Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch - Feeding Tiny Bellies (2024)

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• All-Purpose Flour: Make sure to measure your flour correctly by scooping flour into the measuring cup in increments (not putting the entire measuring cup into the flour) and leveling it off with a knife.
• Butter: Adds light flakiness and flavor to the dough. I used unsalted butter, but if you are using salted butter, just omit the added salt in the recipe.
• Cinnamon: Use both in the dough and in the classic cinnamon sugar coating.
• Salt: To balance the buttery sweetness in the dough.
• Maple Syrup: Adds light sweetness to the cereal base. I like to use the Kirkland brand organic maple syrup from Costco.
• Water: Adds slight moisture to bring the dough together.
• Melted Butter: Brushed onto dough so that the cinnamon sugar has something to stick to.
• Cinnamon Sugar: You can use store-bought cinnamon sugar or make a simple homemade one.

See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Step By Step Instructions

STEP 1: Add the flour, butter, salt, and ground cinnamon to a food processor and pulse until it is combined and grainy in texture (Images 1 & 2).

STEP 2: Add in the maple syrup and water and pulse until it comes together to form a dough. It will seem dry and crumbly at first, but as you continue to pulse, it will come together into a dough (Images 3 & 4). If your dough is extremely dry, add an extra tablespoon of water, but be careful not to add too much so that the dough is not sticky.

STEP 3: Split the dough in half (Image 5) and set one half aside. Place the first half on a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper (Image 6) and place another sheet of parchment paper on top of it (Image 7).

STEP 4: Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough between the two sheets of parchment paper to get it to be as thin as possible (Image 8). The key to getting crunchy cereal pieces is to roll the dough out thin. The dough will slightly puff up while making, so roll it out as thin as you can. Slowly peel away and check to make sure that the dough is an even, thickness. I usually like to use a pizza slicer to shape the rolled dough into a rectangle to make it easier to get uniform pieces, but this is optional.

STEP 5: Brush a light layer of melted butter on top of the dough (Note: make sure the layer is light so that the cereal is not greasy when baked. You want a layer that is just enough so that the cinnamon sugar will stick) (Image 9).

STEP 6: Sprinkle a generous amount of cinnamon sugar all over the dough and lightly smooth it into the dough (Image 10).

STEP 7: Place the 2nd sheet of parchment paper back on top of the dough sheet and carefully flip it over (Image 11). Gently peel back the parchment paper from that flipped side and repeat steps 5 and 6 with the melted butter and cinnamon sugar.

STEP 8: Use a pizza slicer or knife to slice the dough into squares that are 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch in length. Transfer this sheet directly to a baking sheet (no need to separate the squares as they’ll separate once they bake) (Image 12). Repeat steps for the remaining half of the dough and bake for 10 minutes, or until the edges are golden. They will be soft at first right out of the oven but will firm up as they cool.

Does this cinnamon toast crunch taste like the store-bought version?

They have a very similar taste, but the texture of this version is slightly different from the store-bought variety. The thinner you roll out the dough, the crunchier the cereal will be, and the closer it will taste to the store-bought version.

Can I reduce the amount of cinnamon sugar coating?

Yes! The great thing about this recipe is that you can add as much or as little cinnamon sugar coating as you’d like. I coated both sides of the dough with cinnamon sugar to try to replicate the boxed cereal as much as possible, but you can sprinkle it on just one side, or even serve the pieces as is!

Can I make this recipe without a food processor?

It will be a little more difficult to form a dough, but you can make this recipe without a food processor. Use your hands or a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry ingredients and then add in the maple syrup and water to form the dough.

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