This recipe for a super simple homemade gluten free cereal is delicious, whether you follow a gluten free lifestyle or not!
Here’s the thing. I love breakfast. I love breakfast foods. I love cereals and muffins and eggs and quiches and oatmeal and smoothies and… all the good stuff. My problem? I get busy taking care of my kids and forget to eat. Or I have too much on my to do list and anything I “want” to eat takes too long. And yes, I include smoothies in there sometimes because the extra two minutes to clean the blender is sometimes just too much for me.
That’s where the idea for this homemade gluten free cereal came about. In addition to liking breakfast, I try to be somewhat health conscious in my everyday decisions. I may love certain sugary cereals, but we never have them in the house. Between my husband and the wee ones, they disappear in a blink. And if I eat my fair share?… Nope, that doesn’t work. Most granola bars don’t appeal to me either, so I’m left grazing on leftovers in the fridge or often “forgetting” to eat.
Ugh.
Fortunately, this homemade gluten free cereal is quick and easy and it is surprisingly filling for just eating a little bit of it. I usually mix up a batch and store it in my cabinet, then dole it out a third of a cup at a time. Yup, a third of a cup is plenty filling – how many cereals do you know that can say that?
I add it to a bowl (or *cough* a pretty cup) and pour some milk over it. It absorbs the milk and expands after a few minutes, which works out well for me. The exact milk measurement isn’t critical (is it ever with cereal?) but I probably put around a half cup or a little more in with the cereal.
While I’m waiting for it to absorb some of the milk, I grab a few dried cherries – literally a few, maybe 5-6 for my third of a cup of homemade gluten free cereal – and toss them in on top.
Then I slice up a banana and add that to the mixture. I happen to prefer my bananas on the greener side. I like the bite they give to the cereal and the firmer texture works well for me, but I know that’s my personal preference. You may like your homemade gluten free cereal with bananas just shy of banana bread stage for all I know.
Can you see already how the cereal is starting to expand and fill the glass? It isn’t just because I added milk; there’s real bulk forming.
Either way you like your banana ripeness, once the bananas are added, mix it up gently to distribute your add ins and enjoy. Healthy, guilt free, and gluten free. Interestingly, I didn’t realize this concoction was gluten free at first. It wasn’t until I started thinking about everything I put in it that I realized I was making a homemade gluten free cereal.
Yes, it has buckwheat groats in it, but they contain no gluten. They’re a grain that comes from Eastern Europe and have a mild, grassy flavor and a crunch that works perfectly in this cereal. It is a gluten free grain that combined with the chia, flax, hemp, and pumpkin make for a unique homemade gluten free cereal. Go fig!
How to Make Homemade Gluten Free Cereal
This is truly as easy as mixing up your ingredients and shaking them to combine. Yes, that easy. Embarrassingly so for me to call this a recipe, but apparently I have the hubris to do so.
The homemade gluten free cereal is mostly the buckwheat groats. There are more of them than there are any other ingredient. Besides them, all you need are hemp hearts, chia seeds, flax seeds, and toasted pumpkin kernels (the pepitas!).
I add them to my container one by one, then….
…shake to ensure they’re distributed evenly. I don’t want to get all chia or have only flax left behind in my breakfast. And because of the different sizes and textures they do tend to separate a bit in the container as I set it down and pick it up again. Each time before I serve some from the container of homemade gluten free cereal, I turn the container upside down and shake to redistribute to ensure I’m getting an even mix of ingredients.
Yeah… it’s that easy.
Homemade Gluten Free Cereal
Ingredients
- 1 cup buckwheat groats
- 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds pepitas
- 1/4 cup hemp hearts
- 1/4 cup flax seeds
- 1/4 cup chia seeds
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into a container.1 cup buckwheat groats, 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds, 1/4 cup hemp hearts, 1/4 cup flax seeds, 1/4 cup chia seeds
- Shake. Store in a tightly sealed container on counter for up to a month.
- Before serving, turn the container upside down and shake to ensure all ingredients remain evenly distributed.
Notes
- I happen to prefer my bananas on the greener side. It's up to you how you like your banana ripeness.
- For more tips and tricks, be sure to read the full article above.
Nutrition
This site uses an online source to provide nutrition estimates as a courtesy. If you need exact values, please calculate yourself.