Chocolate Puffed Buckwheat Cereal – your answer to easy, healthy “Coco Pops” that are naturally sweetened, gluten free and dairy free (with a vegan option too)! Nothing artificial and you only need six ingredients to make them.
Growing up, I wasn’t a huge Coco Pops fan but my brother was totally into them, so we quite often had them lurking in the pantry. Occasionally, they made a pretty crunchy chocolate-y snack. Like most cereals, those chocolate pops made for some pretty easy mindless eating! (Not exactly what you need in your bowl when it comes to a balanced breakfast though.)
I’m actually now more into ‘cereal’ as an adult than I think I was as a kid. Trendy granola bowls and muesli mixes are everywhere these days, and are making cereal cool again, though in a different way. And since I’ve discovered how easy it is to make yummy, healthy muesli and granola myself, it’s become an essential in my kitchen.
This chocolate puffed buckwheat cereal is just a little bit of fun. It harks back to that classic Coco Pops feel but is kinda in the on-trend new cereal category too, with its base of wholegrain puffed buckwheat. Given its chocolate taste with cacao and carob, and naturally sweetened with honey, it’s my healthier spin on a cereal that’s just like a chocolate milkshake…only crunchy! (Couldn’t resist getting that line in there somewhere). There are no artificial ingredients used here!
I think you’ll be surprised at how little sweetener you really need to make a batch of this chocolate puffed buckwheat cereal too! Just a few tablespoons of honey spread out across 5 cups of puffed buckwheat does the trick. If you’d like to make a vegan cereal, you can always swap to maple syrup, coconut syrup or date syrup instead. Also good to know is that buckwheat is actually a fruit seed, NOT a grain, making it perfect for those with allergies or sensitivities to gluten.
To make a bowl of chocolate puffed buckwheat cereal into a balanced breakfast bowl, serve this up with whole milk or unsweetened yoghurt (good for protein!), and throw in a colourful cup of your favourite fruit. You could also use it to top off a creamy smoothie or acai bowl. A little sprinkling adds a nice chocolate crunch to a dessert too – it’s yummy on ice cream or you can get creative and layer it into a dessert parfait. So many uses for this simple cereal!
Chocolate Puffed Buckwheat Cereal - "Coco Pops"
Ingredients
- 5 cups puffed buckwheat (100 grams, approx.)
- 1 tbsp cacao powder
- 2 tbsp carob powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
- 4 tbsp coconut oil
- 4 tbsp honey or maple syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius. Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
- Place puffed buckwheat, cocoa powder, carob powder and cinnamon in to a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.
- Place the coconut oil, honey and vanilla in to a small saucepan. Using a very low heat on the stove top, warm the mixture, stirring gently, just until the coconut oil melts and the mixture has a runny consistency. Immediately remove from the heat.
- Pour the coconut oil mixture in to the dry ingredients and, using a large spoon, stir everything together until the buckwheat puffs are evenly coated.
- Spread the buckwheat puffs out across the lined baking tray. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, gently flipping and moving the mixture around at intervals during the cooking process (two or three times) to avoid the edges burning.
- Remove from the oven and leave on the tray until completely cooled, so the puffs harden and crisp. Store in an airtight container at room temperature; they should last for around a month (or even longer).
Notes
Excellent recipe. Kids and adults love it!
Thank you!
Thank you so much for your lovely message Mel!
Thank you for this! Will be making them soon, perhaps i will use either matcha or maca powder instead since I dont have carob in my home 🙂 Just switched to a gluten free diet, so using buckwheat puffs as an alternative is so interesting.
Hi Melissa, thanks so much for your comment! Yum, I think these puffs would be delicious with maca powder, I love it. You could also use cacao if you have that 🙂 Buckwheat puffs are so great on a GF diet, I miss having something light and crispy and these are pretty good when they’re baked!
This recipe looks amazing. A great little snack for lunch! Where did you get puffed buckwheat? I live in the U.S. and puffed buckwheat is nearly unheard of here.
Hi Ingrid! Thank you for your lovely comment 🙂 I buy puffed buckwheat from my local health food store, but I am located in Australia so I’m not sure where you could find it in the US. You can also use puffed brown rice to make this though! That might be easier to find.