Vegan Cinnamon Toast Crunch Bars

If you've ever dreamed of taking the beloved breakfast cereal to the next level, you're in for a treat that's as sweet as it gets. With sweet cinnamon swirls that's perfectly balanced with just the right amount of crunch, these Cinnamon Toast Crunch Bars are cinn-fully tasty!

Vegan, Plant-Based, Dairy-Free

Ingredients:

For The Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal Topping

2 cups whole wheat flour 

⅓ cup light brown sugar or brown sugar substitute

2 tablespoon ground flaxseeds mixed with water

¼ cup coconut oil melted

¼ cup your choice plant based milk

2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon baking powder

½ cup coconut sugar or sugar substitute 

1 tsp cinnamon

For The Bars

½ cup peanuts or nuts of choice

1 cup rolled oats (can use quick oats)

2 cups Lundberg Organic Gluten-Free Brown Rice Cakes Cinnamon Toast, crushed

1 tbsp chia seeds

¾ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp salt

⅓ cup maple syrup 

¾ cup peanut butter or nut/seed butter of choice

½ cup powdered sugar substitute

¼ cup of your choice plant-based milk

Directions

If making homemade cinnamon toast crunch: 

1. In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. 
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine wet ingredients.
3. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry and form a ball out of the dough. Wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for 1 hour to firm up.
4. When the time has elapsed, preheat your oven to 350F. Remove the dough from the fridge and cut in half. Place one half in between a lightly flour-dusted baking sheet and the plastic wrap, then roll out as thin as you can. The wrap will prevent the dough from sticking to your rolling pin.
5. Once done use a pizza cutter to cut vertical and horizontal lines across the dough to create the crunchy cinnamon squares. Coat with a mix of sugar and cinnamon, then flip squares and coat other side. Place onto a lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Repeat with the other half of your dough. Let cool completely. 

For the bars:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line an 8×8 inch pan with wax paper or parchment, OR two loaf pans. so that you can easily lift out the granola bars when they’re done.
3. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine.
4. On the stove-top or in the microwave, gently heat the wet ingredients over low heat to combine them evenly.
5. Stir your wet mixture into your dry mixture, adding nuts to coat evenly until your granola is sticky and evenly combined.
6. Spoon the sticky mixture in your lined pan and spread it evenly into the corners. I find dampening my fingers with warm water and pushing the mixture down into an even and tight layer to be the easiest way to pack the mixture into the pan. *Really compress the mixture as much as you can to help it stick together.
7. Place the pan in the freezer and allow the mixture to harden for at least 10 minutes so you can easily cut the bars without much crumbling. Using the edges of the wax paper, lift out the mixture, and slice into 12 bars.
8. Top with cinnamon toast crunch cereal. If you’d like to make these more “cereal and milk” style bars, mix powdered sugar and plant milk together until you’ve reached a desired consistency. Drizzle over bars and enjoy!