What to do with that Cinnamon Toast Crunch the kids left open!!??

@jerzgirl (9384)
United States
August 3, 2008 9:00am CST
You know what I mean. You buy the cereal the kids have been begging for only to find one morning that they've gotten into it and left the bag opened. And, in this summer humidity, that means stale cereal. Considering the price it usually is, do you really want to throw it to the birds? (That's what we normally do with stale breads, etc.) Well, my mother discovered at the age of 91 that SHE likes Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Of course, neither she nor I is thrilled about the $4+ price, so I've been buying "off" brands. Sometimes I luck out at Dollar Tree, other times I find it elsewhere. The last boxes I bought were $1.89 at Save-a-Lot (parent company, Albertsons). Just as good. Now, if you're like me, you don't just eat breakfast, you read, and if it's cereal boxes that are there, you read their labels, right??? That's when I saw it....a "dang, that sounds good" recipe. Right on the side of the Goldstrike Cinnamon Swirls (Cinnamon Toast Crunch clone) box. Are you ready? Cinnamon Cappuccino Brownies 4 cups cinnamon toast-type cereal, finely crushed 1/2 cup butter or margarine 1 pkg (19.8) fudge brownie mix 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup water 2 eggs 1-2 tbsp. instant coffee (optional) 3/4 tsp. cinnamon 1 cup chocolate fudge topping Heat oven to 350F/180C. In a large bowl, stir together crushed cereal and butter until crumbly. Firmly press into a 13 x 9 inch baking pan. In a medium bowl, stir together brownie mix, oil, water, eggs, instant coffee and cinnamon until well blended. Spread on top of crust in pan. Spoon dollops of chocolate fudge topping evenly onto batter. Gently swirl the tip of a knife through the chocolate topping and the batter to create a marbled design. Bake for 28-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Serve slightly warm or cook completely for easier cutting. Makes about 48 brownies. Now - doesn't that sound intriguing?? Although for the life of me, why coffee would be OPTIONAL in a cappuccino-named recipe is a puzzle, but I guess you just drop the cappuccino part when you serve them. I'm not a fan of fudge, so I might change this by using either a cream cheese topping, a caramel topping or maybe even marshmallow topping. But, I would definitely use the coffee since it was the cappuccino part that got my interest. Now, the discussion - besides using cornflakes, etc., as fillers for meatloaf or bran flakes for muffins or crushed for a breading, have you ever used or heard of cereal as an ingredient in anything you don't think of using it for? If so, can you share that with us?
2 responses
• United States
5 Aug 08
I've heard that crushed corn flakes can be used as a "bread" type coating for fried chicken. Never tried it before. Love the recipe. I like fudge. But I do like cream cheese.
1 person likes this
• United States
5 Aug 08
I hear you! I hope you don't mind, but I found a pretty cool link with recipes made from flakes and such. It's from the official WIC website. http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/fh/wic/wicfoods/cerealrcp.html There's about a dozen or so recipes that use flakes or oatmeal as a main ingredient. Very frugal! They had an interesting tuna patty recipe. Of course, I would substitute canned salmon in the place of tuna cause that's how I've always had them. I might try it out.
@jerzgirl (9384)
• United States
5 Aug 08
I keep hitting that "post" button before I'm done. There is a cheesecake filling out now by Philadelphia Cream Cheese - in a container that looks like Cool Whip. I think I'd try that in these if I made them. But, I suspect my mother will eat them all without my getting to try the recipe! LOL
1 person likes this
• United States
4 Aug 08
Stale cereal is an excellent ingredient for desert and as you said meatloaf if it isn't the sweet variety. You have some excellent ideas.
@jerzgirl (9384)
• United States
5 Aug 08
There was someone who made treats for our department at work once out of cornflakes and they used a combination of butter and sugar to pour over them on a tray, but broke them up so that they weren't real big clumps of cereal. OMG - they were so good and I've never found a recipe like that anywhere. The ones I find have peanut butter in them and that just doesn't appeal to me at all. I love peanut butter, but I don't like it in cookies or candy (except Reese's Pieces and frozen peanut butter cups).
1 person likes this
• United States
7 Aug 08
You might try Googling for the recipe. I don't know if you'll find it, but that's a very big data base. Search for "Rice Crispy Treats", then substitute your cereal...