Roasted Coconut Cereal (vegan)

At one point this past weekend, my oven was being overworked and abused for the sake of good food. And, if you were looking for me, you would've found me in the kitchen baking four things at once. My husband laughs at me, but this is what happens when you go grocery shopping and you still need to make some goodies to have around for the family to enjoy and actually feel like you went to the store for more food. I do not buy packaged products very often...mostly to avoid processing and preservatives, but also to save some hard-earned money. But because it's not as easy as opening up packages to produce some goodies for my family, this means I have to get to work. Work I don't mostly mind either. I baked some quick bread (recipe soon), pumpkin pie, pizza crust and homemade cereal. All good treats for a lazy winter weekend.

I made this cereal nut-free and with my favorite seeds and raisins, but the beauty of this cereal or other granola recipes is that you can most of the time throw in what you like and make it work. I call this recipe a 'cereal recipe' instead of a granola recipe because I think that the puffed millet and oat mix along with how it is less clustered makes it more a loose cereal than a clumpy clustered granola. But it still works the same way as granola with being a perfect addition to a bowl of your favorite non-dairy milk, yogurt or ice cream. It is flavored mostly with shredded coconut, coconut oil and coconut milk. Hence the name ;) But I did add a dash of cinnamon to spice it up and you could add what you like as well.

Roasted Coconut Cereal Recipe (vegan)
4 cups of gluten-free rolled oats (I used Bob Red Mill's)
3 cups of unsweetened puffed millet cereal (I used Arrowhead's)

1 cup of raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup of raw pumpkin seeds
1 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup of organic raisins
1/2 cup of organic coconut oil
1/3 cup of coconut palm sugar (you could use a liquid sweetener if you prefer)
1 cup of coconut milk beverage (I used So Delicious)
20-25 drops of pure vanilla stevia liquid (I used NuNatural's)
1/2 ts. to 1 ts. of ground cinnamon
optional: dash of sea salt

In a large mixing bowl mix together the oats, millet and seeds and raisins. Then mix the stevia into the milk. And melt the coconut oil with the sugar  for about 30-40 seconds. Then mix the milk and oil mixtures into the dry mix and mix everything else in and well together. Make sure to get all the dry covered with the wet ingredients and then let soak for a few minutes so the oats can soak up the milk mixture. Then pour out the cereal on a baking sheet covered with parchment. You will need either one large sheet (15x20ish) or two (9x13) pans. Bake at 350 for between 45 minutes and 1 hour. But pull from the oven every 15 minutes to stir the cereal around to mix the crispy with the soft. After 3 or 4 times of pulling from the oven to mix you will notice that the cereal is roasted enough and golden brown. Pull from oven and let cool for 1-2 hours before packaging up. Keep fresh in mason jars or ziplock bags. This cereal makes around 12 cups of cereal. I fill up 3 mason jars and keep them ready for use. Kinda different than stored cereal boxes....:) But still very homemade and very yummy!

Serve cereal in your favorite bowl of milk. Or of course make it a bit more special with adding it to a bowl of fruit, yogurt or ice cream. I love a hearty crunchy cereal blend and this just hits the spot. It's easy to over-eat it, so make sure if you want to keep it around one serving that you measuring out 1 cup's worth for each serving/meal. It also will last longer in the pantry if you try and measure it out as well.

What is your favorite ways to eat cereal or granola? And what are some of your favorite blends? I am really loving the addition of puffed millet in place of adding nuts. Some people love granola and cereal but can't do nuts....so this one is for us that prefer to add the seeds and grains rather than the nuts. I also love dried cherries, blueberries and cranberries, but there is something about the simple raisin that I absolutley love as well. It reminds me of my childhood and eating lots of raisins, but also of a nice bowl of raisin bran that I used to consume quite often in high school and college.

Storing the cereal in mason jars on the counter is also a nice little adding touch of decor to your counter or pantry. It's so pretty and tasty looking. So add a little love to your life and make some simple homemade cereal. You really can't go wrong with this gluten-free treat. Lots of goodness to go around!

Much love and life to you today!

Stephanie