Loading ...
Homemade Chocolate Cereal using Ragi Flour
| Tweet |  |
Ragi (finger millet ) has not been my favorite for a couple of reasons and this month I have tried my best to start liking it by using it in interesting forms and surprisingly I did like it. I think the one common reason why some people may not be excited about ragi is the dull appearance it lends to the cooked dish. I think that a dish should not only be healthy but it should look good too. So I was thinking of ways to make ragi look more appetizing and came up with this idea.
I usually do not buy sugary cereals. It is always Fiber One and plain old Cheerios. My son likes both. Others which I get occasionally are corn flakes, puffed brown rice, puffed millet and puffed corn. I once tried the cocoa pebbles and felt that it way too sweet. My son keeps asking for chocolate flavored cereal and I keep telling him that I cannot get it because it is not healthy. Finally I got the idea to make my own chocolate cereal.
I decided to mix cocoa powder with ragi flour; sweeten it with maple syrup; form a smooth dough and try to cut out small circles and bake it. After I was done preparing the dough, I was able to roll it out but was not able to remove the circles off the surface. It was sort of sticky. So I decided to score it into diamonds instead and bake it like crackers. Even though I was not able to do exactly what I had planned to but the experiment did end well. My son loved this homemade chocolate cereal. Keeping the recipe I have given as a base one can try this with a variety of flours and come with a lot of healthy variations.
| Homemade Chocolate Cereal Recipe |
- 1/2 cup Ragi (Finger Millet) Flour
- 1 tablespoon Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 tablespoon Flax Seed Powder
- 4 teaspoons Cocoa Powder
- 1 teaspoon Vegetable Oil Spread
- 3 tablespoons Maple Syrup
- 3 tablespoons Water
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Preheat oven at 375F/190C for 15 minutes. If using a cookie sheet with edges, flip it over (so you get a flat top) and grease it with some oil spread. Or you can use a flat cookie sheet and grease the same. You will be requiring 2 sheets.
- Meanwhile combine together the dry and wet ingredients into a smooth dough.
- Divide the dough into two equal parts and roll each half directly on the greased cookie sheets. Roll as thin as possible and using a knife/pizza cutter score it into diamonds/squares directly on the cookie sheet; do not separate. Bake for 8-15 minutes. The baking time depends on the thickness of the rolled out dough.
- The first set I baked was thicker than the second set. So the first one took approximately 12-13 minutes but the 2nd was done in about 8 minutes itself. You can smell the cocoa and also can see that the pieces around the edges turning sort of black. Keep a watch and remove the pans immediately out of the oven.
- The pieces will start coming off while you are removing it from thee sheet. Spread it on a plate or another cool sheet. Once the chocolate squares have cooled completely store it in an airtight container.
- This chocolate cereal is not crispy like the store bought ones. The texture is like that of a cracker. So I would suggest to warm the milk before adding to the cereal so the heat will soften it up and give the right texture. I served this for my son with some warm almond milk and a hint of maple syrup and he loved it. He was asking for more on the same day. He also had it as a snack by itself.
Share & Enjoy:
| Tweet | Share | Save on Delicious |
Never Miss A Recipe!
Subscribe to Eggless Cooking FREE via email to get recipe updates in your inbox:
Madhuram, I was passed on an award which I should pass on to 10 more bloggers. You are one of them. Please accept.
http://versatilekitchen.blogspot.com/2010/02/blogging-and-first-award.html
Thank you Madhuram for visiting my blog and leaving a comment.
what a lovely idea!
Thank you so much for introducing me to this ingredient. I intend to try this out as soon as I can get my hands on some. I’d really like to start incorporating it into my healthy vegan recipe videos. Thanks!
You’re welcome Heather.
This caught my eye because I’m always looking for healthy alternatives for my daughter’s breakfast (she is allergic to eggs). This looks delicious!
Homemade cereal is genius, I make granola so why not cereal? YUM
this is sheer genius!!!
Hi Madhuram. Can you please share your mail ID with me if OK with you?
Use the contact form Suma.
Wooow!!!Madhuram,,ragi maavula rombhavum healthy aana cereal seithurukeenga paa,,,naan ragi pakoda thaan eppaum seivaen apram ragi kool itha naan kandipa seithu paakanum..
Thanks Sathya.
This is such a nice idea for a cereal. I always thought the ragi steamed noodles could be made with cocoa powder and had with milk for breakfast but this baked crackers are quick to use. I bake a ragi cheese and sesame crackers(savory) and i started liking ragi after that
Is there any substitute for flax seed powder and maple syrup?
Flax seed powder is optional. You may choose to omit it. You could try honey or powdered sugar instead of maple syrup.