Homemade Grape Nuts Recipe

During the months we homeschool I want to get started bright and early in the morning and making an intricate meal is not high on my to do list. Therefore, I want something quick and easy - not to mention nutritious.  I also try to keep things varied so the kids, and myself included, do not get bored with the meals.  A typical weak of breakfast choices include whole wheat buttermilk pancakes or waffles, banana bread, muffins, oatmeal, granola, toast and cereal. One thing I hate about cereal is how the prices keep increasing and the box sizes keep decreasing.  And so the hunt began for cereal recipes.  I came across this Grape Nut recipe in a cookbook I own called Amish Friends, by Brunstetter.


Grape Nuts
7 C. Whole-Wheat Flour:  try to use freshly ground flour
3 C. Brown Sugar
4 C. Buttermilk
2 t. Salt
2 t. Baking Soda
1/2 C. Butter, melted
2 t. Vanilla


Mix all together and pour onto 2 greased jelly-roll pans.  Bake at 250 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Remove from the pan when you are able to handle the "cake" and crumble it in your hands onto 6 jelly-roll pans.  Bake for another 1/2 hour. The cereal should be dark brown and crunchy.  If not return to oven and continue baking, checking every 5 minutes or so.  Let cool completely and transfer to a zip-lock bag.

This recipe makes quite a bit of cereal (almost 2 gallons) and is extremely filling and so I usually only make a half batch as it takes us a while to finish it off.

I think the cereal tastes almost the same as the Grape Nuts, but for two things:  it is much sweater and I think it gets soggier in milk more quickly.  The sweetness doesn't bother me as I always added sugar to the original cereal, but if you are one of those people who would never dream of doing this I would suggest reducing the sugar by about 1/2 to get the same results.  I hope you enjoy this as much as we do.