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This keto cereal recipe is the BEST make ahead breakfast made with just 4 ingredients! Crispy, crunchy, and perfect served with milk! 2 grams net carbs per serving.
Whenever I crave cereal on a keto diet, I have a few go-to recipes. I sometimes make crunchy granola and sometimes I make keto overnight oats. If I want something quick and fast that reminds me of my childhood, I make my homemade keto cereal.
It’s sort of a mix between cocoa puffs and peanut butter puffs, but tastes so much better, and of course, without any sugar. I’ve been making them in big batches so I always have them on hand for a quick breakfast.
Table of Contents
Recipe highlights
- 4 Ingredients. Seriously, that is it. No hard-to-find or expensive ingredients are needed, just four ones you probably have in your pantry right now.
- Cheaper than store-bought. Most commercial keto cereals cost over $10 a box, and nearly all of them are only available online.
- Crispy, crunchy, and perfect with milk! This is NOT the cereal that becomes soggy once you add milk to it. It remains perfectly crunchy throughout and naturally sweetens the milk!
- Easy to customize. This cereal forms a fabulous base and so easy to customize. You can add your favorite nuts, seeds, or flavor extracts to change up the flavors.
What I love about this keto-friendly cereal is just how much it reminds me of my favorite childhood cereal. Growing up, I used to have my cereal with flavored milk, and I’ve been doing it again, serving this keto cereal with some strawberry almond milk or keto chocolate milk!
Ingredients needed
As mentioned earlier, this recipe calls for just four simple ingredients that are standard in any keto kitchen. Here is what you’ll need:
- Almond Flour- Blanched almond flour or superfine almond flour must be used, NOT almond meal.
- Coconut Flour– Works with almond flour to achieve that crispy while fluffy on the inside. Do not substitute this for other flour. Otherwise, it will affect the overall recipe.
- Keto maple syrup- To give the cereal some sweetness, while also helping hold the cereal balls together. Skip the expensive store-bought kind and make your own! If you use a store-bought syrup, opt for one with allulose in it, not monk fruit, erythritol, or other sweeteners.
- Coconut oil– Adds a buttery flavor while also keeping the cereal intact, so it doesn’t crumble and fall apart when added to milk. You want your coconut oil to be melted.
- Vanilla extract– Optional, if you want some vanilla flavor.
Find the printable recipe with measurements below.
How to make keto cereal
Step 1- Make the mixture. Start by adding the almond and coconut flour into a mixing bowl and whisk together. Add the keto maple syrup and coconut oil and mix until a thick dough remains.
Step 2- Shape. Next, using your hands, form bite-sized balls and place them on a lined baking sheet.
Step 3- Bake. Bake the cereal for 10-12 minutes until ‘just’ done. Remove the cereal from the oven and let it cool completely, before adding it to a cereal bowl with your favorite milk and enjoy.
Recipe tips and variations
- Do not over-bake the cereal at all, as they are fragile, and continue to cook as they cool down. You can remove the baking pan from the oven if they look golden brown.
- This homemade cereal holds its shape when added to coconut milk, almond milk, or whatever milk you enjoy cereal with.
- Don’t worry if your cereal is all different shapes and sizes. As long as they are tiny pieces, that will be perfectly fine to still form cereal.
- For extra crispy cereal, bake for an extra 2-3 minutes.
- Add some chocolate flavor by adding in some cocoa powder to the mixture. For an extra chocolate hit, add 1/4 cup of sugar free chocolate chips.
Storage instructions
To store: Cereal should always be stored in airtight container. It will remain fresh for at least a month.
To freeze: Freeze extra portions of cereal in a ziplock bag, and store in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Low carb cereal is a fantastic breakfast option on a keto diet. This recipe is the best keto cereal option because it is easy to make and has just 2 grams net carbs per serving.
There are some keto cereals available online or in select grocery stories. Two popular brands include Catalina Crunch and Wonderworks.
No Kellogg’s cereal is suitable for a keto diet. Several varieties contain added protein and have reduced sugar, but the carbs are still too high and will kick someone out of ketosis.
More keto breakfast recipes to try
- Bagels– Doughy, tender, and perfect when toasted.
- Breakfast muffins– Get another chocolate fix first thing in the morning.
- Pancakes– My famous recipe that calls for just 5 ingredients.
- Cinnamon rolls– Your sinful start to the morning. These are gooey and fluffy.
Keto Cereal
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 6 tablespoon keto maple syrup
- 6 tablespoon coconut oil melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add your coconut flour and almond flour and mix well. Add your keto maple syrup and coconut oil and mix until a crumbly texture remains. Using your hands, form into a ball of dough.
- Form tiny balls of dough (cereal sized) and place on the lined tray. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely, before transferring to a sealable container.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe originally published July 2020 but updated to include new information and a recipe video for your benefit.
Is there anything I can substitute for the coconut flour? I’m allergic to coconut. I know that the coconut flour must help with the texture, so I’m unsure what else I could use.
I have not made this yet but anticipate 5 stars! I would like to add raw wheat bran to raise the fiber content. Also, I would like to add some baking powder and reduce the fat (I don’t follow a keto diet per se). I will see what happens! Thank you.
Excellent staple item for the house! I made 2 batches, one maple flavored and one chocolate. For the chocolate, I used the same recipe, but added 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder. That made it a little too crumbly and it wouldn’t stay together so I added another tbsp maple syrup and it fixed it.
I started attempting to roll this into balls but quickly gave it up as too time consuming. Instead I flattened a large ball like a tortilla (ok ok I cheated and used my tortilla press, just really gently so it didn’t make it too thin). I put the flat tortilla-shaped pieces on my parchment paper and ran a pizza cutter through it, criss-crossing to make small squares.
Thanks for this recipe — a great item!
Thanks, Amy!
Wonderful recipe, and fun to experiment with variations. Make whatever flavor you want! Quality of ingredients huge step up from the expensive keto cereals out there.
These look amazing. I have someone allergic to coconut and nuts is there other flours that can be used?
Sunflower seed flour should be a good replacement for the almond flour. Not sure for coconut.
This recipe was super easy to make! I added some coco powder and the combination of almond, coconut, and cocoa is very reminiscent of an Almond Joy. I also used about half the dough to make crackers for my toddler and she loves them too!
Looks great. Thanks for the recipe.
Just wondering, is it ok to leave out the maple syrup or use another sweetner like Monk fruit powder?
Thanks.
You can try 🙂
Can I use allulose or erythritol (granulated) instead of maple syrup?
You’re going to make me the greatest husband that ever lived.
I want to try a peanut butter flavored version. I saw one commenter used PB powder. How much? Did they taste like peanut butter? Thanks!
Not sure- I haven’t tried it!
Could I add some flax seed to the recipe for extra fiber, and if so would you recommend cutting down on the oil slightly for the texture to stay crispy?
Would sugar free honey work in place of sugar free maple syrup? Sugar free honey has a thick sticky texture like regular honey.
Yes 🙂