On being an unintentional revolutionary
How my homemade cereal series went viral.
Let’s start in the middle. I had run a granola business for a few years and played with so many different techniques and recipes when I decided to start posting unique spins reflecting trends on TikTok. I made a Taylor Swift Speak Now purple granola when she released Speak Now Taylor’s Version. Then I did a Barbie granola in July of last year. As well as a Shark Week-inspired granola bark with candy sharks. I enjoyed the challenge, but it gained little traction with my viewership. Rather than blaming my possibly lame ideas, I blamed granola. While I make lots of fun granola, granola does not convey fun. Granola is ubiquitous with “crunchiness” and health food—and many of the packaged versions that people are familiar with are just cloyingly sweet bird food. I needed to think outside of the standup pouch, so I decided to use all I had learned about making granola over the past few years and pivot to the other end of the grocery store aisle. I pivoted to cereal (I’m sure you saw that coming).
Cereal is fun. Cereal is watching cartoons on a Saturday morning. Cereal is a late night snack while binging your comfort show. Cereal is bright colors and nostalgic mascots. But what if I could put a little of the “crunchiness” into the cereal by making it with whole grains and free of artificial dyes, ultra processed ingredients, endocrine disrupting BHT, and all of the other mystery ingredients that come with boxed foods? So I whipped up a Cocoa Krispies spin over MLK weekend and decided to start a series on homemade cereal. That one did well! Then a week later I made homemade cornflakes, a technique I had used for a while to make my Cornbread Crunch Granola.
I added freeze-dried strawberries, threw it into a quart jar and posted the video on a Friday night. I crashed on the sofa for a pizza and movie night with my family and when I checked back later I realized that this was what people had been looking for. The numbers were flying and jumping up in real time. I had reached the homemade cereal people and I was excited to give them more. I spent the next week, studying the ingredient list of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and experimenting with different ratios of flours, fats, and sugars, along with baking temps so that the cereal would come out dry and crisp enough to hold up to milk, but not burnt. Then I posted the Cinnamon Toast Crunch and this one went beyond the homemade cereal people and reached ALL the people. I’m not going to try to act like it was NBD. It was a big deal to me to see people enjoy my work. The best part was that the people blowing it up were the BEST people! So much support, so much joy. Yes cereal was fun and we were all here to have a good time. I followed up with Lucky Charms and while I was happily enjoying this wave and testing my next cereal recipe, the CEO of Kelloggs went on CNBC to promote their new campaign pushing cereal for dinner in response to higher food prices. While the concept may have worked a decade ago, in 2024 it fell as flat as a guillotine. The 2024 version of “Let them eat cake” was #letthemeatcereal. And guess who was there to lead the revolution? Me and my homemade cereal series.
Since starting my cereal series my following has grown from 77K to almost 300K. While I am writing this my Cinnamon Toast Crunch video has almost 8 million views and over a million likes. Several of my other cereal videos reached over a million views as well. I have been tagged in countless videos of people making the recipe at home and I love to see everyone enjoying the cereal and the process. (I even had a mega influencer make my version as if it was their own and stirred up controversy on my drama-free channel, which is another story for another time.)
Now for the recipes! This is a growing series, so I am starting with the first three in this newsletter and the additional recipes will come later.
Homemade Cereal Series Part 1: Cocoa Krispies After a Glow-Up
3 cups puffed brown rice
1.5 cups slivered almonds (or more puffed rice if you do not want to include nuts)
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup olive oil or other neutral-flavored oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/4 cup chopped semi-sweet chocolate
Combine the puffed rice, almonds, and oats in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the oil, syrup, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add a pinch of salt. Bake at 300°F for 40 - 45 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes. Let cool slightly then sprinkle the chopped chocolate over the top. Wait a few minutes for the chocolate to melt then stir into the cereal. Cool completely then store in an air-tight container for up to 3 months.
Homemade Cereal Part 2: Cornflakes with Freeze Dried Strawberries
1/2 cup cornflour, such as the one found here (not cornstarch)
1 to 2 Tbsp. Sugar
1/3 cup water, plus 2 Tbsp. (slightly less than 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup freeze dried strawberries (optional)
Mix together the ingredients and pour onto a baking sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Using an offset spatula or a spoon, spread the batter very very thinly. The thinner to batter the crisper the flakes will be. Thicker flakes will be too crunchy. Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 250°F. Pull the cooked batter from the parchment paper and tear into smaller flakes. Return to the oven and bake for 40 minutes more or until crisp. Cool and combine with freeze dried strawberries, if desired.
Homemade Cereal Part 3: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
3/4 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. baking soda
Pinch of salt
5 Tbsp. light olive oil or canola oil
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 tsp. Cinnamon
Combine the dry ingredients, except the cinnamon. Add the oil, water, and vanilla. Stir to combine or mix with your hands to help the water fully absorb. Sprinkle the cinnamon over the dough and mix in slightly. Roll half the dough at a time very thinly between two pieces of parchment paper. Sprinkle with additional sugar then cut into squares with a pizza wheel or knife. Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes and 250°F for 25-30 minutes or until completely dry. Break into squares and enjoy. This will last for at least two months at room temperature.
You’re obviously a very bright and creative young lady!