Cinnamon Toast with Cereal Milk brings back familiar flavors from my childhood. It turns my childhood favorite cereal, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, into an "adult" breakfast! Cinnamon Toast and Cereal Milk are both incredibly easy to make, and it's easy to make this recipe for a group.
The holiday season is always a nostalgic time for me, especially with childhood foods. Just today, I couldn't stop thinking about Cinnamon Toast Crunch! Which begs the question - are you a cereal-flake or a cereal-milk lover? Or are you indecisive like me?
I could never decide what I liked better - each bite of the crisp cinnamon cereal, or the milk that was sitting at the bottom of the bowl once I was done with the cereal. Sometimes, I'd put in a few more Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal pieces in the leftover milk, just for one last spoonful of cereal. And I always regretted it because there was never enough milk to properly soak the cereal.
So I wouldn't end my cereal eating on a bad note, I'd add a bit more milk and a bit more cereal into the bowl and start again with the correct milk to cereal ratio. It could be I am OCD about my cereal habits, but if any of you are like that too, let me know so I can feel a bit less weird!
This recipe for Cinnamon Toast with Cereal Milk is my adult answer for when I have a craving for a cereal that isn't readily available in London.
Cinnamon Toast is really easy to make, though if you want a really detailed explanation with photos, check out The Pioneer Woman's post on the right way to do cinnamon toast. She's given it a lot of thought on the variations on how to make it. I give you a very simple straightforward way (and what she concludes as the "right" way). Simply mix the butter, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla together, then spread it on the bread and bake and broil it in the oven. Just make sure you spread the butter mixture to the very edges of the bread so it doesn't burn.
Cereal milk is also very easy to make, and I give you a simple recipe for just soaking the milk in cereal, then straining it. There are other recipe variations out there, such as toasting the cereal first. I found that because I was using the cereal milk with the cinnamon toast, I couldn't taste a difference whether or not I first toasted the cereal. I also added a bit of sweetened condensed milk to make it a little thicker. The cereal milk is still very runny (and perfect for soaking into the cinnamon toast), but it has a tiny bit of body to it from the sweetened condensed milk.
Cinnamon Toast with Cereal Milk
Print Recipe Save RecipeIngredients
For the cinnamon toast
- 1 small loaf rustic sourdough (a loaf big enough for 6 slices of bread) - with the ends cut off
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (85 grams) - at room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (55 grams)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon quality vanilla extract
For the cereal milk
- 1 cup cereal flakes (40 grams) (I used Kellogg's Special K)
- 1 ⅓ cups milk (390 milliliters)
- ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
Make the cereal milk
- In a large bowl, soak the cereal in the milk for 20 minutes. Prepare the cinnamon toast during this time.
- Once the cereal milk is done soaking, strain out the cereal using a fine strainer. You may need to let the cereal sit over the strainer for about 5 minutes, otherwise you can gently push the cereal against the strainer using a spoon, being careful not to allow pieces of soggy cereal through the strainer.
- In a small saucepan, simmer the cereal milk with the condensed milk for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Make the cinnamon toast
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.
- Slice the sourdough into ¾-inch slices.
- In a small bowl, mix together the butter, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract.
- Spread the butter evenly over each slice of bread, making sure to spread the butter all the way to the edges.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Switch to the broiler, and broil until the tops of toast are golden brown.
- Remove from oven.
To serve
- Plate the cinnamon toast and gently pour the warm cereal milk over it. Serve immediately, or let it soak for about 5 minutes if you prefer.
Hillary Reeves says
ooh i looove these, tina!
Catherine says
Dear Tina, I really love this idea. It's such a simple but wonderful treat for the mornings. I may give it a go this weekend for the family! xo, Catherine