Raw Spice Crunch Cereal with Vanilla Hemp Milk

When I was a child, I was not a big fan of cereal.  Cinnamon toast crunch however was a different story.  I loved the stuff!  It was sweet and cinnamony...I admit I still think about it sometimes as an adult, although I would never buy it since it is so sugary and not so healthy.  I thought I would never be enjoying it again, but then last week I was reading Raw Food Real World by Sarma Melngailis and Matthew Kenney.  I came across their recipe for Maple Cinnamon Buckwheat Crispies which sounded similar to cinnamon toast crunch and I got really excited! 

I wanted to make something really similar to it with ingredients I had on hand.  Mine would have nutmeg and cardamom added because I love those spices together.  I got to work that night.  I had my batter all mixed, really simple, just buckwheat, coconut nectar, spices and sea salt. I had spread it out on my dehydrator tray, started drying it and about half an hour into the drying when it was starting to smell really good...the power went out. 

I was so upset.  I wanted this cereal so bad. But I was not about to give up so I drove my dehydrator over to my Dad's house where there was power.  He only lives a mile away so thank goodness it was not out there because it was out for about 16 hours.  The cereal was saved and it turned out delicious!
 

I had to serve it with delicious raw milk as well, so I whipped up a batch of sweet vanilla hemp milk, topped it off with berries and it was perfect!  Way better than the cereal I remembered as a child. 

Raw Spice Crunch Cereal with Vanilla Hemp Milk
Adapted from Maple Cinnamon Buckwheat Crispies from Raw Food Real World by Sarma Melngailis and Matthew Kenney

Raw Spice Crunch Cereal
Makes about 4 cups

2 cups raw buckwheat groats
1/2 cup raw cocout nectar, agave nectar or maple syrup
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp sea salt

Soak the buckwheat groats in filtered water for 30 minutes, then drain and rinse well.  Place in a food processor along with coconut nectar, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, and sea salt and process until smooth.  Spread out onto a lined dehydrator sheet 1/8 inch thick.  Place in the dehydrator and dry for about 6 hours at 115F degrees then score into small one inch squares. Place back in the dehydrator and continue to dry for another 18 hours (it will be about 24 hours total) until completely dry and crisp.  Break apart and enjoy!

Raw Vanilla Hemp Milk
Makes 4 cups

1 cup hempseeds
4 cups filtered water
4-6 pitted medjool dates (depending on how sweet you want it)
seeds of one vanilla bean (or 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract)

Combine all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend for 1 minute until smooth (strain if desired, but I like it as is).