Homemade Corn Flakes Cereal

I can't even explain to you how excited I am about this recipe!

I made cereal from scratch.

CEREAL. Not granola, which is cool and all (especially when it tastes like s'mores), but actual proper breakfast cereal!

The same stuff I used to eat when I was a kid and totally cool with eating a bowl of sugar-topped carbs for breakfast.

Yesterday morning I was wandering around my kitchen trying to figure out what to eat for breakfast. I was tired of eggs, didn't want oatmeal or yogurt or really much of anything. I've been fighting a cold for the past couple days, and I realized that what I really wanted was a bowl of cornflakes and milk.

I haven't had a bowl of corn flakes and milk in at least 12 years, but right then at that moment, it's what I wanted. So I said to myself: man...I wish I could just make corn flakes.

And then...wait... can I make corn flakes?

So I started looking online and found a few recipes for homemade corn flakes made on the stovetop. I also found some for homemade bran cereal made in the oven, so I tested out both methods to see which worked best.

After some playing around with the proportions, I found that I preferred the oven method as it produced the crispiest cereal with the least amount of effort (total win!).

I was surprised with how good this ended up being. It stays crunchy in milk and has a lovely sweet and toasted corn flavor that is almost identical to that of the boxed cereal. Eugene loved the flavor on its own, and enjoyed handfuls of it as a snack.

The recipe below makes a small batch (enough for about 2-3 small bowls of cereal), but you can easily double or triple it--just be sure to divide the batter into the same amount of sheet pans so that it doesn't come out too thick.

This would also be great to use as a fun topping on yogurt or ice cream, or to crush to use in cornflake breading recipes.
 
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Homemade Cornflakes Cereal

Recipe by Alejandra Ramos | AlwaysOrderDessert.com

A recipe for homemade cornflakes cereal made from scratch in the oven.

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 1 hr 10 min
Yield: 2 cups

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal, divided
• 1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cups water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and grease lightly with oil or baking spray. 
2. Whisk together 1 cup cornmeal, sugar, and salt. Add vanilla extract and water, a little at a time, stirring until batter is smooth and thin. If it's too dry, add additional water. You want something the consistency of pancake batter.
3. Pour batter onto prepared pan and spread out evenly. (It won't reach the edges, but that's OK. You want a nice thin layer, about 1/4 - 1/3" thick.)
4. Combine remaining cornmeal with 1 teaspoon of water and mix until the mixture resembles course breadcrumbs (add an additional teaspoon or 2 of water if too dry).
5. Sprinkle the top of the batter in the pan with the cornmeal crumbs (this will help give it a little extra crunchy texture).
6. Bake on the center rack for 10-15 minutes, keeping a close eye on it, until the dough has dried out and cracked. (You're looking for a cracked arid-desert landscape look to it).
7. Remove from oven and lower heat to 250. Let pan cool, then use your hands to tear and crack the dough into small flakes. Return to oven and let bake on the center rack for about 45 minutes or until pieces are toasted, crisp, and golden.
8. Let cool completely before serving with milk or as you would any cereal. Store leftovers in an air-tight container in a cool dry place.