Tag Archives: dehydrator

Homemade Cereal Flakes from Cereal Crumbs

Giving cereal crumbs a new purpose in life

When it comes to cold cereals, you might remember that I like mine CRUNCHY vs. soggy. Those crumbs that invariably collect at the bottom of the cereal package definitely do not hold up to the crunchy texture I will enjoy. Mixing the crumbs in with the whole pieces of cereal just creates a sludgier feel on my palate that destroys my enjoyment of the entire bowl of cereal.

I hate to throw good food away, and especially when it can be a substantial enough portion of a high-priced box of organic cereal.  So what to do with all those cereal crumbs?

I’d been saving the crumbs in sealed mason jars with the intent of incorporating some now and then into homemade bread etc. But I am just not using them up fast enough. Then, when I was about to buy some more cereal, it occurred to me that I could make my own flakes! And what better ingredients to start with than to use up the crumbs I already had.

I’m sharing what I did to make cereal flakes out of cereal crumbs because this crazy idea turned out so good. Sorry – I didn’t start taking photographs in the process until I realized this crazy idea might actually work.

Cereal Crumbs Flakes Recipe

Ingredients:

1 quart cereal crumbs

Filtered water

1 tsp vanilla extract or other favorite flavorings such as cinnamon or nutmeg

Instructions:

Pour 1 – 2 cups water into blender container, then add cereal crumbs on top. Blend on low to begin with, then raising to medium while  adding more water as needed and scraping down sides of container until you have a spreadable, relatively smooth batter that is just thick enough to hold its shape. I probably ended up using a little more than 3 cups of water. Add the vanilla or other flavorings and blend to mix well.

Place a portion of the batter in the center of a paraflexx sheet on a dehydrator tray
Place a portion of the batter in the center of a paraflexx sheet on a dehydrator tray

Divide the batter into 5 portions. Place each portion in center of a paraflexx sheet on a dehydrator tray.

Spread very thin
Spread very thin

Spread the dough very thinly with a rubber spatula, working from center outwards toward edges. Basically you are just making 5 huge “flakes” at this point. 🙂 Get the dough as thin and even as possible. Your patience and attention in this step will be rewarded.

5 trays of cereal flake sheets in my 9-tray Excalibur dehydrator
5 trays of cereal flake sheets ready to dry in my 9-tray Excalibur dehydrator

Dehydrate at 115 degrees F. for 4 hours or until almost dry and firm enough to peel off paraflexx sheets and place back onto the mesh drying trays.

Partially dried and flipped over onto the mesh dehydrator tray
Partially dried and flipped over onto the mesh dehydrator tray

Continue dehydrating until thoroughly dry – about 2 more hours.

The 5 dried sheets of cereal flake dough
The 5 dried sheets of cereal flake dough

Let the dried sheets of cereal flake dough cool, them break them up  by hand into cereal-sized flakes. Store in an air-tight container.

homemade cereal flakes in an OXO pop-top storage container
homemade cereal flakes in an OXO pop-top storage container

Now you have crispy, delicious flakes to enjoy. Plus the satisfaction of knowing you have given all those cereal crumbs a new purpose in life.

 

Related Images:

Dried Kumquats

The little kumquat tree I started in my front yard a couple of years ago was loaded with fruit this year. It wasn’t actually a lot of fruit, but for the small size of the tree, I am very pleased with its production.

So far I’ve made a couple of small jars of kumquat preserves and also sliced some fresh kumquats to put in garden salad. Now I am looking for something else to do that will help me enjoy the wonderful, citrus flavor of these fruits throughout the year. The answer, of course, is to dry them! Here is a photo journal of my process using the Excalibur dehydrator I got just last fall and am already finding many, many uses for. (I will tell you more about these in future posts)

Wash kumquats and trim ends if necessary.

Cut kumquats in half.

Remove seeds/pulp center from the peel. The easiest and fastest way I’ve found to do this is just to press my thumbs against the outside of the halved kumquat, thus inverting the peel and pushing out the pulp center along with the seeds.

Place the peels on dehyrator tray. I like to put them peel side down so that the juicy bits do not get the tray unnecessarily sticky. That way there is less tray cleanup, while still getting maximum air flow through the tray grid during the dehydration process.

Here are the kumquat peels after 6 hours in the dehydrator at 135 degrees F.

The kumquat skins will have shrunk up and look a bit wrinkly.

They are crunchy with a nicely intense flavor. Yumm.

Store dried kumquats in an airtight zipper bag that has been labeled and dated. No need to refrigerate — these will last just like they are on the shelf for months and months — IF  I don’t eat them all before then, lol.

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