At just 2g net carbs a serving and with a wonderful crisp texture, this keto cinnamon toast crunch cereal might just be the ultimate low carb breakfast (or fun treat!).
Grain Free & Keto Cinnamon Toast Crunch 🥛
Now Extra Crunchy!
We’ve got grain free keto cinnamon toast crunch cereal, and we’re (most definitely!) sharing. Here’s your childhood’s cereal bowl dream, low carb and with all non-processed ingredients. And most definitely, one of my favorite sweet treats we’ve cooked up as of late.
Who doesn’t remember getting home from school, and devouring a bowl of good-old cinnamon toast crunch with iced-cold milk. Or that late-night snack. That flavor will forever be engrained in our tastebuds. And since we’re in this woe for good, we thought we’d revive this classic for the sake of nostalgia.
Though do note that the taste cannot be replicated exactly, blame it on artificial flavorings, refined sugars and processed carbohydrates. But trust me when I say that it will more than satisfy your cinnamon toast crunch cravings. And more.
And talking about ideal, you can always freeze half the dough for a rainy day. 🌧
Keto-fied
Keeping keto macros in mind, aside from making this classic cereal low carb, I made sure to introduce a good amount of healthy fats into the mix.
And I absolutely adore grass-fed butter as the fat here. Though do note that coconut butter can be subbed in, just the resulting cereal will be denser and therefore slightly less crunchy.
So at 2g net carbs, I find these keto cinnamon toast crunch to be a very good deal. Particularly compared to the whooping 19g net carbs of the original!
Though let’s face it, just like with the original, you might be doubling the serving size on occasion always. Still, 4g net carbs!
Essentially a cookies & milk sorta thing, it makes for one truly special keto breakfast treat.
The Deets
Creaming the butter properly with the sweeter is paramount here to build a nice structure for the cereal (think rise and crunch!). And creaming with sweetener, in case you haven’t done it before, takes a bit longer to incorporate than with good-old sugar. But don’t give up, and keep going until you’ve got the sweetener well incorporated into soft and fluffy butter.
The other indispensable thing, is that the dough be thoroughly chilled before rolling and baking. Why? The butter in the dough has to solidify once again before you can roll it out and cut it up. Think 1 to 2 hours (or overnight).
And if the dough becomes too sticky while rolling and cutting, just pop it in the freezer for a few.
The Flours
I found that super fine almond flour did a super duper awesome job (solo!). Add a touch of xanthan gum, and we’re golden.
In terms of brands, for the almond either Anthony’s or WellBees work great. Both are super fine grinds.
The Sweetener
Erythritol lends a very similar crunch and chew to sugar for crisp cookies, and no other low carb natural sweetener does that (xylitol takes up to a day to crunch up and will result in chewy cereal!).
My current favorite for these guys? Lakanto golden without a doubt. Least cooling effect, nice maple-like taste. But Swerve and Pyure (at half the amount) are awesome too.
As for the ‘sugar’ cinnamon topping, you can either carry on with erythritol or use xylitol (with a preference for the later, as it has less of a cooling effect).
And if using xylitol, make sure to be careful if you have a pup or cat around the house, as it’s highly toxic to the little guys! 🐕
The Cut-Up
This really depends how OCD you are (needless to say, I rank high on the scale). But please forget your pastry cutter or knife here, it’s all about the ruler.
Wash up a ruler and use one of its edges to press down on the dough and cut it up. Then take a small fork and prick down each square to avoid excessive puffing.
But note that I timed myself and it took 3 minutes 40 seconds to cut up and do the pricking for the whole batch. i.e. totally worth it for the sake of a true bowl of keto cinnamon toast crunch.
And… the video story!
Keto Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal
Ingredients
- 192 g almond flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum or 1 tsp flax meal
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 80 g grass-fed butter at room temperature*
- 96 g golden erythritol or erythritol-based sweeteners
- 1 egg
For the cinnamon topping:
- 28 g grass-fed butter melted
- 2 tablespoons xylitol or Swerve
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- See recipe video for guidance!
- Add almond flour, cinnamon, xanthan gum, baking soda, and salt to a medium bowl. Whisk until thoroughly combined and set aside.
- Cream butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer, 2-3 minutes. Add in sweetener and continue to beat until thoroughly light and fluffy and much of the sweetener has dissolved.
- Add in egg, mixing until just incorporated. The mixture will appear slightly 'broken' (i.e. not thoroughly smooth).
- With your mixer on low, add in half of your flour mixture- mixing until just incorporated. Mix in the rest.
- Wrap cereal dough with cling film (saran wrap) and refrigerate for at least an hour and up to 3 days.
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
- Roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper until nice and thin. Using a ruler, cut dough lengthwise and then crosswise into squares. Prick each piece with a small fork (optional).
- Transfer parchment paper with the keto cinnamon toast crunch to a baking sheet or tray, and place in the freezer for 10 minutes prior to baking. The shaped dough can be frozen for up to 3 months, and baked straight from the freezer (adding 2-3 minutes more to the baking time).
- Bake for 8-12 minutes, until fully golden (depending on size and thickness). Keep an eye out for them, and note that if you like them crisp you'll want to push the baking time as much as possible (until deep golden).
- Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon 'sugar'. You can also do this prior to baking for a more 'crusty' result, both work well just depending on your preference so feel free to experiment.
- Allow to cool for ten minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely, as they'll continue to crunch up (this may take a few hours for the sweetener to harden up again!).
- Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
I am new to the Keto world and honestly, cereal is one of the things I miss most. I just found this today and am going shopping right now. if they are as good as they sound and the reviews say they are…I WILL BE ONE HAPPY CAMPER.
Would these work for graham crackers?
Yup! Search the graham crackers on the site, same recipe less cinnamon 😉
Could I use baking powder instead of baking soda? How much baking powder would that be, and how would it change the cereal? Thanks!
Hi Bree! Unfortunately you want baking soda here xo!
Is it possible to use Sukrin instead of Swerve? I live in Germany and would really love to try your recipes, but Swerve is really hard to get around here! Love, Franzi 🙂
Yeah of course! Anything erythritol based works great xo!
What is the serving size for the recipe? Is it 3/4 cup in my bowl that is 2 net carbs?
That really depends on how you cut it up etc Chelsea, for precision you need to weigh it (40g per serving!) xo
Hi! Can I sub chilled ghee and coconut sugar for the butter and sweetener? I’m paleo and would like to try these!
Hi Rachel! Yes, they come out a bit less crisp with ghee, but still good! Just do 1 less TBSP of ghee xo!
Wow this looks so good! I wonder, could the flavour be changed? Maybe sub the cinnamon for dried freeze powdered strawberries, and add some strawberry flavor; then sprinkle with more powdered strawberries and xylitol?
Like a keto version of frankenberry cereal! What do you think? Could it work? So many flavor options if it did! Thanks for the great recipes and ideas, your recipes aren’t only “good for keto”, they are just as good if not better than the classical version. Thank you for all your hard work! 🙂
YES YES YES! I’m actually working on a fruity cereal and I can tell you it definitely works ;)! It’s my absolute pleasure Alba, thank you for your comment! xo!
I would love to try these! Looks super delicious! Does it make a lot of leftovers? And how would you store them? In the pantry? In the fridge? I want to make them the day or two before I eat them but I’m not sure on the best way to store them. Thanks!
In the video at 1 minute, it shows something white being sprinkled on the parchment paper and the ‘dough’ before rolling. Does not say what it is, and nothing is mentioned in that step of the text directions.
Whatever it is may not be necessary, as not mentioned in the text ?
Yeah sorry about that (not necessary!). I had sprinkled some arrowroot starch (low GI but higher carbs). Not needed as the dough doesn’t stick to the parchment when cold xo!
hi i love this keto cereal. it’s probably my favorite. But i actually prefer the old recipe over the new. The one where you had to add apple cider vinegar. I now wish i would have printed out the recipe. I’ve made the new one twice and it seems to fall apart in crumbs easily for me.
Same! How much vinegar should go in it again? And when?
It’s from the old version, no vinegar anymore! Xo
This was amazing. Mine did not crunch up they way I would have liked, but I didn’t care. They were actually more like cookies than cereal. In fact would make a GREAT crust was something sweet (just a suggestion). I will make again. The first time, I did not butter and sugar half way through baking and that may be the problem. Did not care, delicious anyway.
Hi Jane! So happy you enjoyed! For next time if they don’t come out crunchy enough for your taste, you can always do a double bake. So wait for them to cool and bake them again for 3-6 mins (depends really on your oven, just make sure they don’t burn!), open the oven door and let them cool down with the oven.xo!
I made the cinnamon cereal and I LOVED IT! I actually liked the thicker ones as they tasted like graham crackers…. and who doesn’t like graham crackers? I ate mine dry as a snack at my work desk it was addicting! Thanks and I love your site as I’m new to veto and I’m finding lots of great thing!
LOL exactly! And yup on the graham cracker taste, which is why the recipe for graham crackers is exactly like this one (with less cinnamon!) 😉 xo!
May I use stevia powder in place of xylitol? I don’t get any of these ingredients in my country so I’m waiting for my xylitol to come in next week. In the meantime, I have truvia (stevia powder) which I use for tea. Please let
Me know! Love your website 🙂
Hi Bisha! So happy you’re enjoying! Xylitol only works here for the cinnamon ‘sugar’ topping, or your CTC will come out chewy rather than crunchy. I’ve never baked with Trivia so I can’t tell you exactly. Is it just stevia? Or is there erythritol or something else mixed in? xo
I love your site and recipes! However, with the cursor changing constantly and all the pop up ads it’s incredibly hard to use. I suffer through it because your recipes are good but it’s frustrating every time I come to your site. I hope you’ll consider turning off the little cursor thing. I understand the need to earn an income so I’m good with clicking off the ads but the cursor is beyond annoying.
Hi Rebecca! Happy you’re enjoying the recipes. Most unfortunately I’ve learned quickly that you can’t please everyone. And yes, I most definitely need the ads to keep the content free for you guys, as running the site is not at all free for me to say the least. xo!
Have you ever tried not guar non gum instead of anthem gum?
Hi Sam! In all honesty I haven’t baked with guar gum in about 5 years, as I never got as good results as with xanthan gum. Bob’s Red Mill I believe has a fairly good conversion chart from xanthan gum to guar gum. But some flax meal would also be a good sub here (twice the amount)- not a perfect sub, but good enough. xo!
Dang these are so good! The texture was a bit softer than i’d like for a cereal, but i’ll try adding the butter before baking next time like you mentioned! Either way- SUPER tasty and satisfying. 🙂
Hi Gloria! That’s awesome so happy you enjoyed! To get more crunch you can always heat up your oven back to 350F/180C, turn it off and pop them to dry out. You’ll be baking them (almost) twice and get much more of a crunch (think Italian biscotti) 😉 xo!
Is it 2 total servings per the nutritional info?
It’s a 40g serving for the nutritional info (number of serving you get out of a batch is at the top of the recipe card) xo!
I have the dough in the fridge now. I’m dying to have these tonight. Is it completely necessary to allow it to stay for an hour?
Hi Alexis! Unfortunately yes, otherwise it’ll be too sticky and you won’t get the same results 🙁 you want the butter to solidify (also because if you put it in the oven melted, it’ll just spread!) xo!
Can the egg be omitted or is there anything I can use to replace the egg? I really want to try this recipe but I’m allergic to eggs :\
Hi Yaritzabeth, unfortunately I haven’t tried with any egg subs so I can’t really help you here. Though I can tell you that things such as chia eggs wouldn’t work (think soggy crackers) xo
Hi Yaritzabeth, did you ever try the recipe with any egg substitutes?
I also can’t have eggs & I’m low carb- a difficult combo! Anyway, I may give it a try and if it works I’ll post back here so others can benefit.
this looks amazing! if i want to reduce the amount of swerve/sweetener, do you think i would have to add more of something else to get the same crunchy result? thank you!
Hi Leanna! I have in fact made these cookies with no sweetener at all (they’re pretty much the buttery crackers recipe) and they do have a softer crunch, more shortbread like. So consider that when cutting the sweetener. Also keep in mind that I already cut the sweetener in half here vs traditional non-keto cookies. So you may even find the cookies themselves (without the cinnamon sugar topping) to be very lightly sweetened. Hope this helps xo!
thank you so much!
What is the serving size for the nutrition facts? It is for the whole batch?
Hi Keri! As stated in the nutrition box, each serving is 40g. And a batch will yield 10 servings xo
Must have missed that. Ha! Sorry 🙂
No worries! Happy to help 😉
Hi, I followed the recipe, I only used xylitol, and I cooked them longer, but they still weren’t crunchy. What did I do wrong?
Serena.
Hi Serena! If you read the section on sweeteners, I actually advice against using xylitol for the actual cereal (erythritol works best). The reason for this is that once melted xylitol takes up to a day (or even two!) to dry out, so your cereal will be chewy rather than crunchy. It doesn’t have to do with cooking time, but with the molecular structure of xylitol itself. Hope this helps! xo!
I also made these this weekend (aside from your terrific waffles). And wow! Very crunchy and delicious! Very graham cracker like 🙂
Hi Jessica! I’m sorry to have missed your comment…! So happy you enjoyed and thanks for reporting back xo!
I really want to make these but I only have erythritol. Would that be OK to use instead of Swerve?
Hi Christina! Yes! Swerve is erythritol xo!
Can I substitute coconut flour? I’m allergic to almonds 🙁
Hi Kim! Unfortunately coconut flour would result in soggy cereal, but have you tried sunflower seed or pumpkin seed flour? Many readers who are allergic to almonds use it! xo
Can you replace butter with coconut oil?
Yes, you’ll just get slightly less crisp results xo
Can I use Stevia instead?
Unfortunately no Jenny
OMG I’m such a fan of your old ones that the minute you said an improved version was out I had to try asap! And WOW you werent kidding! With the new ones let me tell you that I can no longer taste I’m eating keto!! Feel like I’m cheating now it’s nuts.
I used swerve and you do have to wait for them prob about an hour for them to be crunchy. I added the cinnamon topping right after baking. thnx!!
Is the freezing step necessary after its rolled out or can they go straight into the oven? Thank you. VERY excited to try.
Hi Zoe! I find that it’s a necessary step to get the best texture possible! xo
I didn’t see (sorry if I missed it) and note of the actual yield for this batch. Can you give us a clue as to volume of a single serving? Thanks.
Hi Roxana! Volume wise I’m not sure as I do tend to weigh, but I calculated serving size for the new ones to yield 40g.