This version is excellent as a finger food for toddlers. The cereal disintegrates quickly in your mouth, is superb for tossing in the diaper bag, and despite not being highly flavored, is amazingly addictive. This recipe, however, does NOT stand up well in milk for more than a few minutes. * Only the various flours are listed by both weight and volume, as they are the ingredients that can vary considerably in size and weight gives the most consistent results.
Ingredients
3 ½cups325 g oat flour (you can make this by grinding 3 cups rolled oats finely in a blender)
1 ¼cups150 g almond flour (you can make this by grinding 1 cup almonds finely in a blender)
Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, melted butter, and vanilla until combined and fold into the wet ingredients just until combined. The dough should be very soft and just slightly sticky.
Set out a piece of parchment paper and place the ball of dough on it. Press into a disc about 1-inch thick and place in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to firm just slightly. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350F.
When the dough is slightly chilled, decide the shape of your homemade Cheerios...
FOR SQUARES, place another piece of parchment over the top of the dough and roll until the dough is about 1/4-inch thick, about the thickness of two nickels.
Using a pizza cutter or a very sharp knife, cut the dough into small squares about 1/2" x 1/2".
Lift the entire piece of parchment paper onto a baking sheet and bake until puffed and just beginning to brown, 10-11 minutes.
Remove from the oven, reduce heat to 300F, then break the dough into the predefined pieces. Return to the oven for 15-20 minutes, stirring every five minutes, until the pieces are crisp and very dry.
Let cool and enjoy!
FOR O's, preheat the oven to 350F, then place a piece of parchment over the top of the dough disc and roll until the dough is about 1/4-inch thick, about the thickness of two nickels.
Using whatever tiny circle cookie cutter that you can (I used the top of a small vanilla extract bottle), cut out circles out of the entire section of dough, rerolling the dough if necessary.
Then, using a wooden skewer or a lollipop stick, poke a hole in the middle of each circle.
Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet and lay the circles on it in a single layer. Bake at 350F for 12-15 minutes, turning once, until they just begin to brown.
Remove, cool, and enjoy!
FOR A CRUMBLE, place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet, then take the chilled disc of dough and crumble it all over the parchment.
Bake at 350F for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 300F and bake another 10-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until crisp and very dry.
Let cool and enjoy!
Notes
Thank you so much to my friend, Nicole, for sending me her original version of this recipe. Many blessings, friend!