Pesach Prep Pantry Clean Out- Cereal Cookies!

Although I don't enjoy cleaning for Pesach, I do take pleasure in pantry clean-out. We do not sell our chametz (unless there is substantial financial loss), so we donate or use everything. It is fun finding forgotten product and putting them to use (oh! udon noodles!). And taking packages of food for donation is always fulfilling. I hate wasting food, so finding a use or place for everything is important to me.

Only one item in the kitchen had me stumped for a use. The top of the fridge is home to the cereal box graveyard. There stands the tombstone boxes of rejected cereals. Most were rejected after a few bites. All are open and stale. They can't be donated. They won't be eaten in their current form. And I cannot just throw them out.

So I created cereal cookies! They are probably more like breakfast bars, but I thought calling them cookies would be more alluring. Maybe they should be brekkie bickies, linguistically honouring Australia.

The recipe is very approximate, but I am happy to share it.

14 cups crushed cereal
1 1/2 cups of oil
1/4 c brown sugar (more can be used, as well as white sugar if your cereal assortment is less sugary)
1 c soy milk (not really necessary- could be milk or water, but I had an open box)
1 T vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 c rolled oats (again we had it)
flax seeds, craisins, nuts, raisins, chocolate chips, whatever you like 

The first step was my favorite, crushing all the cereal. I loaded it into ziplock bags and instructed the girls to squeeze them. This is great for hand muscles, those pencils holding muscles. The girls tried to think of other ways to crush them, using elbows and sitting on the bag.  They did not think of the simple alternative for crushing, the food processor.

Maybe I should have pulsed them in the processor, to make it more flour-like, but our consistency was extra lumpy.  

Then we added all the other ingredients. 

And stirred. Lots of stirring. Add flour or oats if it is too wet. More liquid if too dry. Not an exact science. 

The oven should be preheated to 350 F.

Since we were making cookies, we used ice cream scoops to make balls on the tray. They would work in bar form just as well. 

Bake for 12 minutes. 

Eat in the morning with milk or take on the go. 

They store well in the freezer. 

As long as I am recipe sharing, here is another one that is good for chametz removal and is nice and healthy.

Grain Salad

2 cups of a cooked grain (I used from our barley stash)

1/2 c raisins

1/4 c chopped parsley

chopped vegetables (whatever is in fridge, bell peppers and cukes are particularly nice)

1/4 c canola oil

1/4 c soy sauce (more of that chametz!)

1 t garlic

mix everything!

Serve cold and enjoy!