So what exactly is cereal milk?
The idea is truly brilliant.
A wildly popular drink created by pastry chef Christina Tosi of the famous Momofuku Milk Bar in NYC, cereal milk is exactly what it sounds like: an ice-cold milk drink that tastes like your favorite breakfast cereal. See? Brilliant! After all, what child doesn’t look forward to that sweet cereal-infused milk left over when all of the frosted flakes, apple cinnamon cheerios, or cocoa krispies are gone?
The sweet cereal milk is the best part!
Intrigued by the Momofuku idea of infusing regular milk with toasted cereal, I experimented to come up with a homemade cereal milk recipe. Although I’ve never tasted the original to compare, I really love this version. It’s especially great for anyone who doesn’t want to pay $5 for a glass of cereal milk, anyone who wants to control the amount of sugar that goes in, or anyone who is a vegan or can’t have dairy. Oh, and anyone who doesn’t happen to live in a city (NYC or Toronto) with a Momofuku Milk Bar location.
Homemade Cereal Milk
(inspired by Momofuku Milk Bar)
- 1 cup cereal of choice
- 1 3/4 cup milk of choice
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp pure vanilla extract
- sweetener of choice to taste (amount will depend on the type of milk you use. For example, if you use unsweetened almond milk, try 2 tsp sugar or a pinch of stevia extract.
Preheat oven to 300 F. Spread cereal out on a baking sheet, and bake 12 minutes. (I used Whole Foods bran flakes for this recipe, but many other types of cereal will work. I’d just recommend not using granola.) Transfer to a large glass, add the milk, stir and let sit 30-35 minutes. Don’t rush this step. When the time is up, set a fine mesh strainer over a container and pour the mixture into the strainer. Really squish the flakes down, using the bottom of the glass or a spoon, until pretty much all of the liquid has been pushed into the strainer. (Compost the mushy cereal, or save it for another use.) Add all remaining ingredients to the container, and stir. Voila! Cereal milk!
 
Question of the Day:
What was your favorite childhood breakfast cereal?
When I was really little, my favorite was Cocoa Krispies because it turned the milk into chocolate milk. I also really liked Apple Cinnamon Cheerios and only stopped eating them when I was in high school because we moved overseas and one box cost eleven US dollars! Although I don’t often eat cereal anymore, I’ll sometimes pick up a box of Love Crunch granola for snacking. And I usually have a box of Whole Foods bran flakes on hand for recipes like the Healthy Butterfingers.
Link of the Day:
Mmmm it’s been years!! So pumped.
This sure is interesting. I bet it would taste pretty good with cinnamon toast crunch!
I used to be a HUGE cereal eater! Some of my favourites were Crispix, Just Right, and Multigrain Cheerios. Now I tend to gravitate more towards homemade oatmeal and granola (I have a recipe on my blog coming up in the next few weeks :)!
It seems like you read my mind! I do live in NYC and have been to the momofuku milk bar a couple of times. Everything is delicious but so sugary. I borrowed a copy of Tosi’s milk bar cookbook to see if I could adapt some of my favorites to a lower carb and sugar level but most recipes call for glucose syrup etc and in the foreword, she actively discourages making substitutions. This made me kind of mad so I returned the book, glad I hadn’t bought it! Thanks for this healthier version. I love cereal milk! I’ll probably try it using Arrowhead Mills spelt flakes which is my favorite cereal of the moment.
hi! so, I’ve been following your site for a while – i even have a section in my notebook of recipes that are just from your site – lol – they were piling up 😉 I was wondering – and totally off the topic of cereal milk (which is really cool by the way – I was a professional chef for a long time and cooked in a really well known restaurant where everyone was always gaga for Momofuku) but…..I was wondering if you have ever attempted a mock up of Dr. Praeger’s California Veggie burgers. I’m in love with them and can’t believe there doesn’t seem to be a copy cat recipe online – thought I would throw that out there – figured you would be the best option – thanks for all the great recipes!!
I prefer not to strain the mixture because I love the little bits of cereal in it 🙂
That is a genius idea! And it sounds delicious! I’ll have to give it a try.
My favorite breakfast cereal as a kid were the maple and brown sugar Mini-wheats (the chocolate ones weren’t so bad either 😉 and Fruit Loops. But now I love the cinnamon and honey nut Chex cereals. In my opinion, they’re some of the best gf cereals out there.
I’d love to know more about you going overseas! Very cool. I wish I’d traveled more as a kid.
I loooved the chocolate milk that occurred after the cereal was gone for coco puffa or coco crispies. Yum.
YES! Cereal milk is beyond amazing – and I don’t even like cereal that much. Next you have to recreate their cereal milk soft serve (with cornflake topping!).
Cute idea!!! I would love this with Cinnamon Toast Crunch or Cocoa Pebbles, haha! Thanks for sharing 🙂
What a clever drink idea. The sweet milk was always my favorite part too. I’d have to say Lucky Charms were my favorite cereal. 🙂