Lizard's Fav

My sweet hubby's favorite cereal, other than Count Chocula, which is available only around Halloween and I have learned (the hard way) to stock up on each year, also goes through periods of inavailability, such as a pandemic. Grape Nuts doesn't have much of a market share, so it's not high on anyone's list but his.

When I couldn't find any, even online, during my most recent grocery shopping trip, I decided to look up recipes online, just in case it could be made from scratch. I'd never even eaten Grape Nuts, so I had no clue what to expect. I was thrilled to find a bunch of recipes, and I took what I liked from the most popular ones, made a few healthy substitutions, and then made a batch for my sweetie.

For the record, I like the concoction a bit better before it's dried out, which is supposed to be the key to deliciousness. But the dried-out version is just what Lizard desires, and he told me he likes my homemade version even better than the name brand! Guess I won't need to buy Grape Nuts anymore!

Homemade Healthy Grape Nuts

3/4 cups unbleached whole wheat flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup hazelnut flour
1/4 cup quinoa flour
1/4 cup oat flour
1/4 cup flax meal
1/4 cup wheat bran
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup smashed graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup molasses
1/2 teaspoon pink Himalayan sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine all ingredients into bowl and fold. Mixture will be very thick. Spread mixture onto baking sheet as thin as possible. (I did not have parchment paper, which is recommended, so I used freezer paper. It sufficed.) Place in oven on middle rack until edges begin to brown (about 20 minutes). Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature. This step is critical and should not be rushed. I kept the oven on at 250°F for an hour or so to let it heat the kitchen but then turned it off. The giant slab of what looks like baby poo took a couple more hours of cooling, even though it was a very chilly day.

Once cool, cut or break into small pieces, place in food processor and grind into crumbs. I didn't want to use my brand new blender for that, so I used a rolling pin and the heels of my hands to crush the crunchy dough into small pieces. Preheat oven to 250°F if you turned it off. Place crumbs back on baking sheet, place in oven on middle rack and bake, turning sheet every 10 minutes, until crumbs are completely dry. Mine took a little longer than an hour, perhaps an hour and 20 minutes. Made the house smell fantastic. Remove from oven and try to keep hubby out of kitchen until crumbs cool. Actually, let him eat some if he wants. He deserves it, and he loves warm homemade healthy Grape Nuts!

Store uneated portion in airtight container, if there's any left. I don't know how long a batch this size will last stored because it was gone in three days at my house.

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