Homemade Grape-Nuts

You know, I've admitted it previously on this blog, and I freely admit it to all I know in real life:  I am really not a morning person.  I mean, really-really not a morning person.  My husband had a sinking suspicion of that dark side of me when we were dating, and it became a little more obvious after we were married.  But the true horror of such a tremendous character flaw didn't really smack him upside the head until our oldest child started kindergarten, and I didn't make him a hot breakfast before sending him to school.  I think my dear husband is still bothered by that.  And to his credit, he says nothing at all, but if he's home, he gets up and makes a hot breakfast most days.

So naturally, I think one of mankind's greatest achievements has been creating cold cereal.  Of course, not the sugar-laden GMO stuff, but just regular cold cereal.  Some so-called nutritionists go off on ridiculous rants about the violence done to grains in processing (sorry, but these grains come from plants, plants that get eaten for food--our world has enough to deal with without idiots getting all snowflake-y about how a grain is processed), but everything in this blog is done with a minimum of equipment, so there's no violence here. 

Today's focus is something known in old-timey food storage circles as Crunchy Wheat Cereal.  Basically, it's Grape-Nuts.  And because I have actually made this, and not just copied from someone somewhere else, I also have some tips in here for making it work, as well as actual baking times.

Homemade Grape Nuts
6 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk (2/3 cup dry milk, 2 cups water, 2 teaspoons vinegar or lemon juice and let sit for 5 minutes)

Mix dry ingredients thoroughly and then stir in the buttermilk.  Divide the dough in half and roll each half to fit on an ungreased cookie sheet. (Do not worry.  This will not stick to the pan.)  This is most easily done by placing some waxed paper on top of the dough and using a rolling pin to roll the dough out to the edges of the pan. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown around the edges, about 20 minutes.  Remove the cereal from the oven, turn it over with a spatula, and break the cereal into small pieces.  Lower the oven temperature to 200 degrees, and return the cereal to the oven to dry out thoroughly, about one hour.  Grind chunks in a food processor or blender if smaller chunks are desired. Cereal may be finely ground to substitute for graham cracker crumbs in making pies and other desserts.

Family reviews:  All agree that this tastes way better than the store-bought version.  It is not quite so hard and crunchy (I'm not afraid it will break my teeth) and softens up a bit in milk.


Variations:
For flavored breakfast cereal, add 2 teaspoons cinnamon or 1 teaspoon nutmeg.
For poultry stuffing, omit sugar and add in 2 teaspoons bouillon, and 1 teaspoon each sage, poultry seasoning, and celery salt.
For a salad topping, add 1 teaspoon each garlic salt and onion powder.


Links to related posts:
Wheat
Dry Milk
DIY Chicken Bouillon   08.23.19