Crunchy Malt Cereal (Grape Nuts)
Yield: 7 cups / Level: Easy
Prep Time: 15 minutes / Cook Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes / Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
If you love Grape Nuts, then this recipe is for you! Making this cereal from scratch allows you to control the size and texture so it turns out perfect! The malted barley flavor is delicious on top of yogurt and gives that crunch, similar to granola, we all crave. The malt syrup is an unrefined sweetener than scores much lower on the glucose index than table sugar due to the fiber content. You could enjoy as a cereal paired with your favorite milk, however I think it would be more fun as an ice cream topping! Malted crunchy sundaes… yes please!
Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, I suggest getting a coarse ground wheat flour for maximum flavor.
3/4 cup malt extract syrup, I picked mine up at a local homebrew store, however you can get this at WholeFoods.
1 1/2 cups buttermilk.
2 tsp vanilla extract.
1 tsp baking soda.
1 tsp pink himalayan salt.
Method:
Preheat oven to 350°F and line a sheet tray with parchment paper.
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
Add the vanilla extract to the the buttermilk.
Add buttermilk mixture and malt extract syrup to the flour. The malt syrup is stickier than you can imagine, it’s even stickier than honey. Be careful not get it all over the place.
Mix well with a silicone spatula or a wooden spoon. It gets pretty tough to stir so I would recommend using a sturdy tool. I am amazed I didn’t snap my silicone spatula in half.
Pour the batter onto your parchment paper lined sheet pan and spread out into an even layer.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until edges get slightly golden brown.
After you take the “cake” out of the oven, turn the heat down to 270°F.
Let your “cake” cool completely.
Put pieces of the cake into a food processor and pulse until it is broken down into smaller pieces. You can break it down as much as you want depending on your preference. I went with an assortment of sizes as you can see from the pictures below.
You will most likely need to do this in 4 to 5 batches.
Spread your “cake” crumbs onto two sheet pans. No need to line them with parchment paper.
Place in the oven for about an hour, stirring every 20 minutes or so. You are just drying them out during this process.
Let cool completely.
Store in an airtight container.
Enjoy!