Don’t Waste Leftover Cereal Milk. Put It In Your Morning Coffee Instead

A great way to start your day is always with an easy and simple breakfast, whether cereal or a frozen breakfast sandwich, alongside a nice cup of coffee or espresso. Recently, I decided to try to combine my usual breakfast — which is my favorite cereal, Cocoa Puffs — and my morning latte. How did I combine them? Well, it is quite easy!

Instead of drinking the extra milk from your cereal straight from the bowl, try adding it to your espresso to make yourself a cereal-flavored latte! For this, I used a mesh strainer, something you may have on hand if you bake a lot, and an espresso machine. Pick your favorite cereal and let it soak in your milk of choice (I used 2 percent, but almond milk, soy milk, or one of the other types of plant milk would work too) for 30 minutes. You will then have your flavored milk, which is ready to add to an iced or hot latte.

I tried this with three different cereals and found that iced tasted better than warm. Lets get into it!

I taste-tested milk with Cocoa Puffs, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and chocolate-flavored Rice Krispies. I did end up eating the Cocoa Puffs to see how much it mattered in terms of the cereal sitting in the milk, and it does make a difference!

For the other two, I put about a cup of each in a bowl and the same amount of milk and let it sit for 30 minutes before straining it. With the Cinnamon Toast Crunch, I chose to warm up the milk on the stove to make a hot latte and poured it over one shot of espresso. It tasted like cereal, however, the flavor was a bit muted and not as intense as I would have preferred. It could be topped with nutmeg or cinnamon to enhance the flavor.

While Cocoa Puffs and chocolate Rice Krispies are both chocolate, I found the second one to have a much stronger flavor when mixed with espresso. I made two iced lattes with both cereals and found it tastier than a hot latte. The Cocoa Puffs reminded me of when you make chocolate milk with a small scoop of Nesquik, whereas the other tasted more like one of Starbucks’ yummiest chocolate drinks, a mocha latte.

There are multiple cereals that this can be done with and I found overall, it is an easy way to enhance your coffee and not waste your milk!