Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal (Vegan + Gluten Free!)

Forget store bought- this homemade cinnamon toast crunch cereal is entirely vegan, gluten free, nut free, and SO easy to make! Crispy and sweet, just like the classic, with only 6 healthy ingredients!

Is cinnamon toast crunch vegan?

If you’ve stumbled upon this recipe, then you probably have come to realize that the store bought version of cinnamon toast crunch is indeed not vegan.

I know, it’s such a bummer! Especially because it was one of my and Jared’s favorite cereals growing up. The classic cereal is not vegan due to the added vitamin D3, which is animal-derived.

Not to mention, the ingredients also contain natural flavors, which aren’t vegan 100% of the time. But don’t be too bummed because this homemade cinnamon toast crunch tastes legit just like the classic…but maybe even better 😉

This vegan gluten free cinnamon toast crunch is crispy, light, and sweet, just like your favorite, but, as the recipe notes, it’s also made with wholesome plant based ingredients. Not to mention, this vegan cereal recipe is also nut-free (so no almond flour needed!).

Trust me, you’re going to feel like a kid again eating a bowl of this homemade cereal!

Ingredients for homemade vegan cereal

For this homemade cinnamon toast crunch, you’ll only need 6 pantry staple ingredients. You can even make one of them if you don’t have store bought!

• Oats or oat flour: if you don’t have oat flour from the store, you can absolutely make your own oat flour from gluten free rolled oats. If you don’t need a gluten free vegan cereal, you can also use just all purpose flour.
• Arrowroot powder: this is the same as arrowroot starch. Some brands refer to it differently, but both work. You can also use cornstarch. I have not tried this with tapioca starch, but many have said that arrowroot and tapioca are interchangeable.
• Ground cinnamon
• Coconut sugar: yes, this vegan cinnamon toast crunch is also refined sugar free! If you want a truly classic homemade cinnamon toast crunch, you can use granulated sugar instead.
• Coconut oil: just a bit of coconut oil to get the crisps really crispy. If you need oil free, you can also swap in an equal amount of applesauce for the coconut oil.
• Flaxseed: we’ll be making a ground flaxseed “egg” from the ground flaxseed to help bind the ingredients.

And that’s it! In terms of equipment, you’ll need two baking sheets (or just one- but it’ll take multiple rounds to bake, as we are making a lot of cinnamon toast crunch!) and a pizza cutter. You can also use a large kitchen knife, but I find it easiest to use a pizza cutter.

How to make homemade cinnamon toast crunch

I think you’re going to be shocked at how easy and simple it is to make homemade vegan cereal. In fact, you might just skip store bought all together.

Funny enough, making a vegan cereal dough is quite similar to making a pie dough. This is because with both recipes, we’re looking for that crisp and almost flakiness to the dough once baked.

As with all of my recipes, the full written instructions and ingredient measurements are found down below in the recipe card. However, I wanted to show some visual images of how to make the vegan cinnamon toast crunch, as well as some extra pointers.

1. Prepare the flaxseed egg. This needs about 5-7 minutes to sit and coagulate.
2. Whisk together the dry ingredients. Then we’ll cut in the coconut oil, much like we do with a pie crust. I like to add in the coconut oil separately from the flaxseed egg, to ensure that the coconut oil is evenly distributed and all of the cereal gets crispy.
3. Add in the flaxseed egg and mix together. Not all of the flour will be incorporated here, which is why we’ll use some water to help. Add in the tablespoons of water, but start with the lowest amount first. Remember that you can always add more if you start with a little, but you can’t take away so it’s crucial to always start with the least amount and slowly add in as you go.
4. Chill the dough. This will make it easy to roll the dough out. While the dough is chilling, you’ll also preheat the oven to 375F.
5. Roll the dough to be about 1/8 inch thick. The thinner the better honestly, but just not too thin, or the dough will break. It doesn’t matter so much about how big the rectangle is as it does that the dough is 1/8 inch thick. Then brush the melted coconut oil and sprinkle on the cinnamon sugar mixture.
6. Cut the dough to be 1/2″ by 1/2″. You’ll get a bunch of tiny little squares. I then like to transfer the dough (which was rolled on parchment paper) to a baking sheet to chill in the fridge or freezer. This helps to easily separate the squares after and maintain the shape.
7. Separate the cinnamon toast crunch squares. I used two baking sheets here, and placed half of the cinnamon toast crunch onto one baking sheet. I then separated the squares so that they don’t bake together. The dough shouldn’t spread in the oven, as oat flour tends not to spread.
8. Bake the cinnamon toast crunch. Once baked, you’ll allow the vegan cereal to cool on the baking sheet. Then you can enjoy in a bowl with some homemade oat milk or coconut milk!

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Homemade cereal tips & tricks:

• Add in 2 tablespoon cacao powder: instead of just cinnamon toast crunch, you can make chocolate cinnamon toast crunch! Remove 2 tablespoons of the oat flour and replace with 2 tablespoons of cacao powder.
• Oat flour substitutes: if you don’t need a gluten free vegan cereal recipe, you can just make this vegan! Use all purpose flour instead of oat flour for a classic homemade cinnamon toast crunch.
• Coconut oil substitutes: there isn’t much of a coconut oil taste to these, even if you don’t use triple refined coconut oil. However, if you don’t have coconut oil on hand or prefer not to use it, you can also use vegan butter or applesauce.
• Watch the oven: towards the latter half of the baking time, you can check up on how the cinnamon toast crunch is baking. They can quickly go from lightly golden to burnt, so around 5 minutes left, check to see how your cinnamon toast crunch is baking.
• Storage: unlike the store bought cinnamon toast crunch, you’ll need to store your homemade vegan cereal in the fridge for optimum freshness. I use a big mason jar with a lid, but any glass container will work. The homemade cereal will keep for about 5 days in the fridge.

I hope you love this vegan cinnamon toast crunch as much as I do! If you make it, let me know by leaving a comment down below in the comments section, as well as a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ so that others may find this recipe.

As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there.

Happy vegan cereal making!

More homemade vegan cereal and breakfast bowls:

Paleo vegan grain free cereal

Best vegan overnight oats (3 ways!)

Chocolate protein granola

Banana bread granola (oil free)

Homemade chewy granola bars

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