Homemade Grape-Nuts

Crumbly, crunchy, and delectably sweet, this homemade version of Grape-Nuts will make a perfect addition to your breakfast menu. With a smidgen of patience and a little extra time, you can make your own cereal that tastes even better than store-bought! I heartily recommend this yummy recipe to anyone ready to try their hand at a unique and worth-while venture. My family loved them, and I'm sure yours will too!

Homemade Grape-Nuts (from the Thrifty Frugal Mom )

6 c. brown sugar
11 2/3 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 c. oil
3 c. sour cream or yogurt
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. baking soda
2 c. buttermilk

Frugal Tips

- If you're looking for the healthier way, yogurt would be best. But I'm fairly certain that sour cream is generally cheaper than yogurt, so that's what I used.
-Our family doesn't usually have buttermilk on hand, so a homemade buttermilk recipe really comes in handy here. It sounds difficult, but all you have to do is add 1 Tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to every 1 cup of milk that the recipe calls for. Let it sit for 5 minutes and that's all. Easy!

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix everything together except the buttermilk. Then gradually add the buttermilk. You will then    have a cookie-like dough.

3. Spread onto 3 greased cookie trays (If you don't have that many trays, you can use other pans, as long as they're large enough so that the batter cooks through).

4. Bake for 30 minutes and allow to cool (cut the large "cookies" into squares and flip over to cool faster).

5. Pulse the squares of batter until the whole batch resembles large crumbs.

6. Place them back on the trays and let dry in warm oven (200 to 225 degrees) for several hours. Stir occasionally. When done, the Grape-Nuts will be crunchy.

7. Enjoy your Homemade Grape-Nuts with a splash of milk, a handful of granola, or just plain!

My Notes

 I am so excited about learning how to make my own, homemade cereals! Bought at the store, breakfast cereal is so expensive, particularly the healthy kind, and in my opinion it doesn't compare to homemade cereal at all. Of course, in my opinion, anything homemade beats store-bought.=)
 This was my first cereal-making attempt that turned out wonderfully. Now, I must note that this recipe is very time-consuming. So before you dive right into it like I did, I suggest that you set a full day aside (not knowing how long it would take, I started making them mid-day and had to finish them the next morning)!
 I absolutely loved this recipe, particularly because it's a bulk recipe. The Grape-Nuts in the picture are only half of what the recipe actually made. I stored the rest of it in two freezer bags and froze them. So these last a long time.