Vegan Cereal that’s homemade is perfect for your morning breakfast. It’s nut free granola and high protein too so it will keep you going strong for a long time.
So you’re craving a delicious crunchy granola cereal for breakfast and you just don’t have any.
You might not have thought of this but you probably already have all of the ingredients you need to make this huge batch in just about 30 minutes.
The only reason it takes that much time is because of baking. It’s probably only 5 minutes worth of work. Homemade cereal is so easy and also so much cheaper than store-bought.
This recipe happens to be nut free granola but you can throw in some pecans or other favorite nuts if you’d like. Making homemade cereal is that easy!
I can not wait until my two little nieces come and visit because, I just know, they are going to love it too.
We always have lots of fun together and baking this granola with them will just be another good time. It’s extremely kid-friendly in the eating department too.
This cereal also takes advantage of high protein ingredients. Check out these stars.
- Rolled Oats – also called Old Fashioned Oats has 5g protein in a ½ cup of dry oats.
- Sunflower seed kernels are a complete protein and have 5g to 1-ounce weight.
- Hemp hearts are loaded with protein and 3 tablespoons are 10g of protein.
- So with this mix, a cup of cereal is 11g proteins
How Can Breakfast Cereals NOT be Vegan?
- This is one of the reasons that making your cereal at home is such a good idea. You can be sure it’s vegan right off the bat.
- But here are some safeguards to use when buying cereal.
- Often there is whey powder or honey being used in the ingredients. Read the label to check.
- Cereals often come fortified with vitamins and one of the ones that is often added is Vitamin D. The only way to find out if the Vitamin D has been derived from animal sources is to call the manufacturer.
- Not all vegan cereals are marked Vegan so read the labels to find the ones you can enjoy.
A good thing about not using maple syrup or any nut butter in your mix is that it lasts much longer on your shelf.
That’s why I made this big batch this way. It will keep about a month in the refrigerator vs. a week as with other wet baked granolas.
Also, it freezes really well and you can keep it for months in the freezer. Just pack it in an airtight freezer container.
Shredded Coconut:
- Shredded Coconut is pretty much what it sounds like. It’s shredded but it can be fine to thick shreds and you can also be in big flakes.
- One thing is that it’s almost always dried.
- It’s packaged sweetened or unsweetened. The sweetened kind is combined with sugar. You can use sweetened or unsweetened for this homemade cereal recipe.
- It’s always best to buy organic, especially if it’s sweetened. That makes sure it’s vegan and that no artificial sweeteners, flavors or preservatives are added.
- Shredded coconut has a great texture and a rich flavor or fresh coconuts.
If you have a problem with gluten then make sure your oats are gluten-free and you’ll be all set.
I mean oats are naturally gluten-free but they are often processed in facilities that also process wheat, barley, and rye. So check out the label to make sure there isn’t any cross contamination.
Helpful Tools:
- A large bowl. I have two that I make big batches of cereal and pasta salad in and a large bowl is what you need for stirring. This set has 4 bowls and the largest holds 4 qts.
- You’ll need two baking sheets to make sure that this crunchy granola is spread out thin enough. This stainless steel set is nice and heavy duty.
- This stainless steel set of measuring cups has six sizes!
- Sturdy wooden spoons are so helpful in the kitchen and you’ll need a big one for this recipe.
This Crunchy Granola has a rich toasted flavor
Some oil is added before the mixture is baked so that it can be truly toasted.
The coconut sugar also gets toasted but does not cling as much as with a wet mixture. It gives that combined flavor of deep rich sweetness when dairy-free milk is added.
You can see that there is a lot of chewing satisfaction in the homemade cereal in the photo below.
More Vegan Cereal and Granola Additions:
- Cinnamon
- Maple syrup – you can make clumpy granola with the help of maple syrup. You might like to try this Homemade Date Bar Granola.
- Any Nut butter
- Nuts, whole or chopped
- Dried fruit such as dates, apricots, and cranberries
- Other seeds such as pepitas
This large batch recipe makes about 12 cups of cereal so you’ll be set for quite a while.
The other good thing is that you don’t have to eat it every day to make sure it doesn’t go bad. The mix keeps about a month in the fridge and months in the freezer.
If you keep it in the freezer it is ready to eat immediately. Just pour your dairy-free milk over the top and there you go.
I think you’ve already figured out that you can make a half batch too. Just in case you don’t have enough of the ingredients in your cupboard it is still doable.
You have got to try this vegan cereal because along with the crunch factor the sweetness is perfect. Oats, raisins, sunflower seeds and more. So friggin’ good.
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Homemade Cereal for a Vegan Nut-Free Granola
Ingredients
- 7 cups rolled oats - old fashioned, make sure they are gluten-free if you are concerned with that
- 1 cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened
- 1 cup sunflower seed kernels
- 1 cup organic coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup hemp seed hearts
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup raisins - for adding near the end of baking
Instructions
- Mix all of the ingredients together except for the raisins.
- Spread out in a large baking pan.
- Bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes.
- Take out of the oven, add the raisins and stir. Replace in the oven.
- Bake for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Take out of the oven and let cool.
Notes
It keeps about a month in the refrigerator.
You can also freeze the granola/cereal for months.
I always have it on hand. It really is good stuff.
Nutrition
I am so glad your go-to is my date bar granola recipe and thank you for letting me know. I’ve been kicking around how to make this oil free and I think I’ve come up with something that would work. I would sub a cup of aquafaba (the juice from canned beans and I’d use it from a mild white bean such as chickpeas) for the cup of oil. I will be trying that next and adding it to this recipe as an alternative. Thank you for your question!
Your date bar granola is my go to granola! This one looks promising except for the oil – do you have any suggestions on a replacement for it?
That’s great Gia and thank you. I think a cup is probably a good serving. That is what the nutrition label is based on.
Looks yummy! Gonna try, how much is a serving? Thanks
Thanks Beth! Kids really do love it, don’t they! Me too 🙂
It is Lucy and it makes such a good quantity that it will last quite a while.
This granola has all of my favorite flavors! Yum! I love cooking with kids! They have so much fun!
This is a great recipe to know about. Homemade granola is a real treat.
I love baked granola! This recipe looks fabulous and I can’t wait to make it! I love sunflower seeds in granola!
I’m all about the kids and having fun Kavey. Thanks so much!
You are so right Cynthia! You’re golden with this breakfast!
Oooh yes, great idea to make it with the kids as it’s a great way to enthuse them about eating a healthier breakfast! Love the inclusion of sunflower seeds, that’s a tasty addition!
My SIL was just telling me that she eats one or two dates every day because they’re one of the best fruits for you! Loaded in fiber! This would be an excellent way to get in a dose of fiber!
I have not tried anything different yet but I think you might be able to cut the oil and brown sugar down to 3/4 cup. Applesauce would not work because the oil is part of the baking process and makes it crispier. Applesauce would make it mushy. That is a lot of granola and spread out over 10 cups of the solid ingredients the oil measurement breaks down quite a bit to what you are actually getting in each serving. If you go ahead with the 3/4 cup measurement would you let me know how it went? Thanks so much in advance.
Have you tried this cutting down the oil any? Maybe w/ apple sauce instead? I’m trying to watch all fats.
Fantastic! Thanks so much and I wish more people would tackle it. I think it is best to put in the refrigerator. Although coconut oil is very stable and keeps a long time because it has touched so many more ingredients and baked it may go bad pretty quick. I mean like a few days to a couple of weeks. I do not know how quickly so that is why I suggest to be more cautious.
Hey! I just made this tonight! Super good!!! Thanks for sharing! I’m going to freeze half of it but the other half does it have to be refrigerated? Or could if go in my pantry? Thank you;)
Thanks so much. I really go for the ‘super easy’ and delicious. 🙂
Mmmmmm mmmm mmmm! This granola looks delicious! I love that it’s super easy and I actually have all of this stuff in my cabinet!!
Thanks so much. Yes, chocolate chips would really give it another layer.
Yum! This looks amazing I want to make this adding some chocolate chips and maybe sole almonds