Crunchy Nut-Free Keto Cinnamon Cereal
Martina Slajerova- Ready in 1h
- 4.1 g net carbs
- 226 kcal
- Serves 8
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Although store-bough cereals are a convenient and quick breakfast option, they are a no-no for anyone following a healthy low-carb diet. They are not just high in carbs but also laden with unhealthy ingredients.
I wanted to create a healthy replacement for breakfast cereals that is keto & paleo friendly. Just like in my keto oatmeal, the key ingredient are chia seeds that are high in micronutrients and fibre and low in net carbs. They will kick-start your morning and keep you going until lunch. My recipe is not just low in carbs but also allergy-friendly: there are no eggs, nuts or dairy.
Serve this cereal with coconut milk, heavy whipping cream (I thin it down with some water, using 1/4 cup each cream and water), unsweetened almond milk, full-fat plain yogurt and fresh or frozen berries.
My recipe is inspired by this paleo cereal from Kelly of A Girl Worth Saving.
Step-by-step
To make the sunbutter, place the sunflower seeds in a food processor and process until smooth (here's a step-by-step guide). I used my Kenwood mixer with a food processor attachment.
Add shredded coconut, hemp hearts, cinnamon (I like cinnamon so I used 2 tbsp), salt and give it a short blitz just enough to combine the ingredients. Do not over-process.
Add the chia seeds, sweetener, coconut milk, water and process for a few more seconds.
Let the mixture sit for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 135 °C/ 275 °F. When the mixture is set, divide in half. Each half will fill up one oven tray, so you can either bake both halves on two trays or keep one half in the fridge in a ziploc bag for up to 5 days and bake when needed.
Using a spatula, spread the dough on a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking mat like this one or a strong parchment paper (regular parchment paper may tear).
The dough should be about 1/8 - inch (1/4 cm) thick. To spread it thin, you can place a piece of parchment paper on top of the dough and use a rolling pin.
Place both baking sheets in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until crisped up. When done, remove from the oven and cut into 1-inch (2 cm) squares with a sharp knife or using a pizza cutter. Let it cool down for 10-15 minutes to crisp up.
You can pre-cut the dough before placing it in the oven to make it easier to cut the squares.
Once cooled, store in an air-tight container for up to 2 weeks. Serve with coconut milk, cream, almond milk or yogurt, and top with some berries. Because the cereal doesn't have to be refrigerated, it's also an excellent travel-friendly snacking option.
Recipe
Crunchy Nut-Free Keto Cinnamon Cereal
★★★★★4.7Although store-bough cereals are a convenient and quick breakfast option, they are a no-no for anyone ...
- Hands on
- 15m
- Overall
- 1h
- Servings
- 8
- 4.1 g
- Net carbs
- 8.2 g
- Protein
- 16 g
- Fat
- 226
- kcal
Ingredients makes 8 servings
- Cereal:
Instructions
To make the sunbutter, place the sunflower seeds in a food processor and process until smooth (here's a step-by-step guide). I used my Kenwood mixer with a food processor attachment.
Add shredded coconut, hemp hearts, cinnamon (I like cinnamon so I used 2 tbsp), salt and give it a short blitz just enough to combine the ingredients. Do not over-process.
Add the chia seeds, sweetener, coconut milk, water and process for a few more seconds.
Let the mixture sit for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 135 °C/ 275 °F. When the mixture is set, divide in half. Each half will fill up one oven tray, so you can either bake both halves on two trays or keep one half in the fridge in a ziploc bag for up to 5 days and bake when needed.
Using a spatula, spread the dough on a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking mat like this one or a strong parchment paper (regular parchment paper may tear).The dough should be about 1/8 - inch (1/4 cm) thick. To spread it thin, you can place a piece of parchment paper on top of the dough and use a rolling pin.
Place both baking sheets in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until crisped up. When done, remove from the oven and cut into 1-inch (2 cm) squares with a sharp knife or using a pizza cutter. Let it cool down for 10-15 minutes to crisp up.
You can pre-cut the dough before placing it in the oven to make it easier to cut the squares.Once cooled, store in an air-tight container for up to 2 weeks. Serve with coconut milk, cream, almond milk or yogurt, and top with some berries. Because the cereal doesn't have to be refrigerated, it's also an excellent travel-friendly snacking option.
Nutrition per serving, ½ cup
Carbs 9%Protein 17%Fat 74% of calories
- Net carbs
- 4.1 g
- Total carbs
- 17.9 g
- Fiber
- 13.7 g
- Sugars
- 1.6 g
- Protein
- 8.2 g
- Fat
- 16 g
- Saturated fat
- 4.5 g
- Calories
- 226 kcal
- Sodium
- 83 mg · 3.62% RDA
- Magnesium
- 83 mg · 20.9% RDA
- Potassium
- 209 mg · 10.4% EMR
Nutrition by ingredient
| Per 1/2 cup | Net carbs | Protein | Fat | kcal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunbutter, Sunflower Seed Butter (KetoDiet blog) | 1.6 g | 3 g | 8.5 g | 92 |
| Coconut, dried, desiccated, shredded (organic, unsweetened) | 0.7 g | 1.9 g | 1.2 g | 31 |
| Hemp seeds, hearts (hulled, natural) | 0.1 g | 1.5 g | 2.2 g | 26 |
| Cinnamon, spices | 0.5 g | 0.1 g | 0 g | 5 |
| Salt, pink Himalayan rock salt | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 |
| Chia seeds | 0.4 g | 1.6 g | 2.6 g | 41 |
| Coconut milk (full-fat, unsweetened) | 0.2 g | 0.1 g | 1.5 g | 14 |
| Water, still | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 |
| Low-Carb Maple Syrup (KetoDiet blog) | 0.5 g | 0 g | 0 g | 17 |
| Total | 4.1 g | 8.2 g | 16 g | 226 |
Serving size 1/2 cup
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Egg free
- Nut free
- Nightshade free
- Pork free
- Avocado free
- Fish free
- Shellfish free
- Beef free
- Pescatarian
- Low FODMAP
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
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Comments & ratings (36)
Is it okay to leave out the shredded coconut, or is it relevant to the texture/binding? I just don't like the taste.
Instead of leaving it out you should substitute it with a mixture of nuts or seeds - just enough to make the consistency work so it can be flattened & pre-cut.
Hi! I made this recipe for the third time in a week!! thank you, I love it. Is my new breakfast. I wake up happy knowing this is waiting for me.
best!
Thank you!
Thanks for this very tasty recipe. I also have your recipe book entitled
The KetoDiet Cookbook which I enjoy making some of the recipes. However, I have recently been asked to eliminate flax & chia seeds from my Keto diet along with non dairy, no eggs and no pork. If I take out the chia seeds in this cereal recipe what should I replace it with as I think that you need something to help keep it from crumbling. I would appreciate any suggestions that you could give me as I am really struggling with finding recipes with all the above restrictions. Thanks
Hi Sharon, thank you for buying my book, I really appreciate your support! The problem with substituting highly absorbent ingredients such as chia or flax is that you may need to adjust the amount of liquid ingredients. I would say flax meal is the best alternative (this recipe uses flax: Keto Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal) but then you can't eat flax so I'm not sure. Chia or flax are essential for the texture so the dough can be rolled out/flattened.
I think you could try using just almond flour, and perhaps add a tablespoon of psyllium husks (this should help with the texture) but I would be just guessing.
Hey, just wondering what kind of chia seeds you are using. For me, I seem to need to use 3x the liquid at least, and the end result has a bluish brown tint. Taste is still great, especially when crisped a little.
I'm sorry for the late response! I think all chia seeds should be the same so I'm not sure why yours needed more liquids. Could it be that you let them sit for longer than 15 minutes? I'm using as little liquid as possible just to make sure they crisp up once baked. If you're using more liquids you may need to bake them for longer than 30 minutes.
i also needed about 3x the liquid so i baked it longer. It took about an hour to get crispy...Color is perfect and so is taste...love it!
Thank you for this recipe. My family enjoys it. In fact, my husband requested I make it for his Father's Day breakfast. 😊
Hi
I made these last night and added extra cinnamon too as I thought they would turn out like Golden Grahams (they almost did).
My concern is that here in the U.K. I've been told not to deduct fibre from total carbs and I've worked out the recipe in on MFP, and it says I've eaten 14 carbs! I'm only allowed 20 carbs per day!
I've followed your recipe and each serving for 8 people is around 40g. Could you please advise as I'm hoping that the 6g of fibre should be deducted... meaning 14g is then 9g.
Thanks
Jenna
Hi Jenna, yes, that is correct for labelling purposes because "total carbs" in the UK exclude fibre and there is no concept of "net carbs". You can learn more about this here: Total Carbs or Net Carbs: What Really Counts?
Our KetoDiet app only uses verified databases. However, MPF and most other apps use crowd sourcing to collect data (an example would be this meal where they likely didn't have fibre listed). If you use any of these apps, I suggest you double check the entries with verified sources because they are known to be inaccurate.
I love this cereal, it's really filling, tasty and great when you need to crunch.
Thank you Julie!
I have made this cereal a few times now. Each time it comes out perfectly delicious. I usually added both the cinnamon and the vanilla. I love the depth of flavor the vanilla adds. I don't have hemp, so,I add sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. My husband and I are both Keto. We love this crunchy cereal with Greek yogurt and blueberries! I often have with with just almond milk. Thank you for sharing you wonderful recipe!
I'm glad you like it Debbie, thank you! 😊
Thank you so much for this recipe. I made it yesterday. Enjoyed a crunchy bowl of cereal this morning! Amazing. I added more seeds such as pumpkin, sesame and sunflower. The chia seeds are great in it too! I highly recommend this recipe to all.
Thank you Debbie, I'm glad you liked it! 😊
This cereal is the best! thank you for all your awesome recipes. love from South Africa ❤️
Thank you for your kind words! 😊
I love this recipe so much, I decided to try it as a cracker! I used almond butter, more salt, no sweetener and added savory flavorings like garlic/onion and italian herbs! They are crispy and stand up well to a slice of cheese.
I bet this could also be used as tart crust using sweeteners and hazelnut butter. Thanks for developing such a versatile recipe!
Thank you for your kind words and great tips! 😊
Fantastic! This is easy to make and tasty. I made mine with almond butter and no hemp. The maple and cinnamon adds just the right touch. I forgot how much I missed a crunchy bowl of cereal in the morning! This is MUCH better than eating bran flakes.
I think that any nut or seed butter will work. I'm glad you liked it! 😊
Thank you so much for this recipe. I love granola with yoghurt/cream/berries/chia seed pudding etc. but I have always loved cereal with milk and have really missed it since going low carb 4 1/2 years ago. The half-cream, half-water suggestion for this really works and it's almost like eating Bran Flakes again! Thank you! 😊
Thank you! It's almost like full-fat milk, just without all the extra carbs 😊
Made this yesterday and it's wonderful. I prepackaged each serving (self preservation ) and am excited that I have a delicious crunch option for either cereal or snack. No coconut taste, doesn't get soggy quickly after pouring on the milk and just enough sweetness to satisfy the sweet tooth. Again another great recipe that will be made regularly! Thank you Martina 😚
Thank you Marybeth! I'm glad you like it 😊
Does this taste of coconut? I am not a fan of that taste, unfortunately.
I don't think it does, it tastes of cinnamon and sunflower/hemp seeds but you could use more seeds or nuts instead of coconut.
Hi Martina,
Thank you for this brilliant recipe. I want to make it for my hubby but he really doesn't like the taste of cinnamon, could you recommend something else to flavour the cereal in its place?
Yes, you can use vanilla or even cocoa powder - I just updated the list of ingredients 😊
Is there any way I can replace hemp hearts with sth else? They're incredibly expensive here where I live... 😞
Yes, you can use other seeds - I just updated the list of ingredients. I think sesame would work well 😊
Thank you so much for this cereal recipe. It is scrumptious!
Thank you!