"Cinnamon Toast Crunch" (no gluten!)

Think back to when you were a kid... remember those deliciously sweet, sugar-coated cereals that you oh-so loved?

Fast forward a few years...

You see those cereals in the aisles at the super market and are brought back to the "good old days" when you could eat whatever you wanted without any sort of stomach or body ache... Well, I'm here to tell you that it is possible to make your very own version of those yummy cereals, but with a bit of a makeover. I found the recipe for Cinnamon Toast Cereal on the Peas and Thank You website. The first day I saw it was of course a day, more like a week, that I didn't have any free time to make it. So there it went into the "breakfast" bookmark folder until the time was right.

The "right time" came soon enough...

Saturday night! I's the perfect time! Of course I'm not going to be doing homework on a Saturday night.. I should be out partying and living up my 21-year-old life... right?! Well... it just so happens that many Saturday nights I prefer to spend my time in the kitchen, debating over which recipe to try next. Yes, you might say I'm a bit of a nerd... but hey that's the way.. uh huh uh huh... I like it ;-)

My substitutions to the original recipe:

• amaranth flour in place of the garbanzo/fava bean flour
• about 1/8 - 1/4 less than the water suggested (I always say it's better to start with less and add more if needed)

A few notes:

• The batter will be runny and thin - this is how you want it.
• Place on a parchment covered cookie sheet and move it around so that the batter spreads out and is very thin (don't worry, again, this is how you want it).
• I made just half the recipe this time and cooked it for 12-14 minutes. Whether you make half or the full recipe, just look at the edges, when they begin to brown and look crispy take it out.
• I used a spatula to carefully separate the parchment paper. I then used a pizza cutter to cut the mass of cereal into square pieces. Place them all back on the cookie sheet for 4-6 minutes. Then take it out, turn them over and cook a minute or two more. Once all pieces seem crispy let them cool on the cookie sheet.
• I stored the cereal in a plastic tupperware container but found most of the crunch to be gone the next day... I removed the top and let the cereal sit open to the air so the extra moisture would evaporate. My advice, if you aren't going to eat the cereal right away, pour some into a bowl about an hour before you want to eat it, or pop it back under the broiler for a few minutes to get that real crunch to come back. 

I'm definitely going to be making this again, trying out different flours and additions (perhaps cocoa) to the mix. I'll let you know how it goes! In the meantime, have fun with this... it really does make you feel pretty talented to make your own cereal ;-)