Better than Cinnamon Toast Crunch

From Tortillas to Cinnamon Toast Crunch (The Whole Grain Way)

I’ve been making tortillas for years — apparently more than I realized.

The other day Ray said, “Remember when you used to make those all the time? That was the tortilla house.”

We’ve apparently had phases.

There was the pizza pocket house.
Now we live in the bread house.
And apparently… tortillas are making a comeback.

I didn’t even realize how much he loved them until this week.

The Sopapilla That Started It

The other night I turned one of my fresh tortillas into a quick sopapilla-style treat.

Traditionally, sopapillas are fried and dusted with cinnamon sugar.
But I brushed mine with butter, sprinkled cinnamon sugar on top, and tossed it into the air fryer to crisp.

Simple. Nothing fancy.

He raved about it.

Then he ate every single remaining tortilla.

After asking me exactly how I made them.

That’s when I knew something special had happened.

And then he said something that didn’t hit me until later:

“Those tortillas could make Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal.”

I forgot about it.

Until the next night.

Experiment Mode (Live and Unfiltered)

I was rolling out the last four tortillas of another batch — this one made with extra virgin olive oil and water instead of milk and tallow (vegan base recipe, which you’ll find below).

And I thought… what if he’s right?

So I went live and did what I often do in my kitchen:

Experiment.

Let me tell you — experimenting is not always pretty.

Sometimes it’s messy.
Sometimes it’s disappointing.
Sometimes it’s straight-up “why did I do this?”

But not this time.

This time was a gigantic win.

The Process (AKA The Messy Middle)

First attempt: pasta bicycle cutter.
Not great.

Second attempt: scissors.
Time wasted.

Third attempt: chef’s knife.
Smooth. Clean. Finally.

Now I had little tortilla squares.

Next problem: coating.

Dunking them in melted butter?
Messy. Greasy. Clumpy cinnamon sugar.

Not the vibe.

So I grabbed a bag.

Tossed in the tortilla squares.
Poured in melted butter.
Shook it like Shake ’N Bake.

Game changer.

Every single square evenly coated.

Then I dumped in the cinnamon sugar mixture and shook again.

Perfect coverage. No clumps. No soggy spots.

Success.

How to Bake Them

Bake however you like until crunchy.

Here’s what worked beautifully for me:

• Air fryer

• 400°F

• 12 minutes total

• Toss at the 8-minute mark

If using an oven, go slightly lower and a little longer so they dry out evenly without burning.

You want crispy. Toasty. Crunchy.

Not soft.

Nostalgia — But Better

Add milk and you are officially in nostalgic heaven.

Except now it’s whole grain.

Fresh-milled flour.

Real ingredients.

No mystery additives.

And if you want to make it more whole-food friendly?

• Swap granulated sugar for date sugar

• Swap melted butter for melted coconut manna

Boom.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch… but make it real food.

Why This Matters

I built my site the way I did for a reason.

I don’t just want to hand out recipes.

I want you to learn how food works.

Because when you understand the base recipe (in this case, a simple vegan tortilla), you can turn it into:

• Wraps

• Sopapillas

• Chips

• And now… cereal

That’s freedom in the kitchen.

That’s confidence.

That’s how we get back to real food without feeling deprived.

Get creative.
Have fun.
Let it be messy sometimes.

And remember —

Cereal really is better when you Just Mill It.

The recipe base the cereal is based on is Flour Tortillas. Never in a million years would I have considered making crunchy cereal from tortillas, but it worked better than I could have hoped for. So check them out: