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Mmmm. Cinnamon sugar.
Nothing like it.
I have fond memories of my mother driving me to preschool in the car while I savored a piece of toast that was topped with some margarine (yes, we were a completely processed food family) and christened with a just-right-amount of cinnamon sugar.
I’m sure the cinnamon sugar came in a pre-blended container too 
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It tasted and smelled soooo good.
I was quite young and I was an early reader. I would munch on my toast and read the names of the street signs out loud on our way.
Funny how fragrances and flavors can trigger memories, isn’t it?
Well, I still love cinnamon sugar (my kids do too) but like everything I needed to be able to make my own and have it on hand.
But what proportion to use? And why make your own?
As for the why, you can read my post on Homemade Seasoning Blends to see why I recommend making your own blends.
And for the how, here’s what I did. As with some other recipes (like the ranch seasoning mix that I will share with you soon) that I work on for awhile, I had a blind taste test (my family members were the panelists) and tested four different blends that I found on the internet.
The results were well — basically hilarious!
Each blend won!
So here you go. You now have 4 cinnamon sugar blends to choose from. One for every taste in your family!
The sweetest blend (the least amount of cinnamon) was my youngest’s favorite. He has quite the sweet tooth, just like his mama. I predicted he’d like this one the best. I made all four blends up this morning and let him try them all once he woke up. He got a great big smile on his face after tasting the mildest version and said “This one!” when I asked which was the best.
The strongest was my husband’s favorite and he even said that it could still use more cinnamon. (But then, this is the man who puts Tabasco on everything.)
The one in the middle was my favorite (followed closely by the sweetest version).
And the cinnamon-nutmeg blend was enjoyed by all as having just that little-extra-something.
In the next few days I’ll be sharing a super recipe for Super and Easy Baked Oatmeal / Oatmeal Cake – Two Ways that this is the perfect topping for so stay tuned! It’s a great Christmas breakfast idea so I’ll try to get it done tomorrow if possible.
Enjoy!
Cinnamon Sugar ~ Made Four Ways and Healthier
Ingredients
Sweetest Version
1 cup sweetener
2 Tbsp cinnamon
Medium Strength
1 cup sweetener
4 Tbsp cinnamon
Strongest
1 cup sweetener
5 1/3 Tbsp (16 tsp) cinnamon
Cinnamon-Nutmeg Blend
1 cup sweetener
2 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg (freshly ground recommended)
Method
1. Place ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
2. Store in an airtight container (if you are making all four blend, you could have a small container of each ).
3. Sprinkle on anything where you might like a nice sweet topping (toast, oatmeal, coffee (coffee substitute for me), etc. This would also be the perfect topping on my Pumpkin Snickerdoodles if you’d like to vary the topping a bit.
Notes
1. Which version of cinnamon to use? Whichever you like. I’ll try to post on cinnamon varieties later. I used Vietnamese by Frontier and cut the recommended amounts by 1/3 since it is a stronger variety.
2. Where to buy your cinnamon and nutmeg? We did taste tests (yes, we really did) and found that Frontier’s was by far the best cinnamon, with Costco’s coming in a close second. We also tested Mountain Rose Herbs and Penzeys, but alas, they were not the winners. I purchase whole nutmeg from Frontier and grind it fresh with my much-beloved Microplane grater. A must have tool!
3. For all of these blends, I recommend using the most healthy sweetener that you have available to you.
For those of you who use white sugar, I would recommend switching to Sucanat or Rapadura or even coconut sugar.
And for those who cannot have sugar at all (I am in that camp), I would allow for xylitol or erythritol. I am hoping to try coconut sugar soon to see how I do on it. I hope it goes well!
In any case, you will for sure be doing yourself a favor by making this blend healthier than the standard white sugar and cinnamon version.
Hope you like it!
Looking for some other Homemade Seasoning Blends?
How about:
- Homemade Taco Seasoning
- Pumpkin Pie Seasoning
- Mild Curry Powder
- Chat Masala (a wonderful Indian spice that we have on our table all the time)
- Vegetable Broth Mix | All Purpose Seasoning (and a really special way to use it!)
Do you have a special flavor or fragrance memory to share?
This post has affiliate links. Please read my disclaimer.
Shared at Diet Dessert and Dogs.
My mom used to make us cinnamon sugar toast as well! She would just mix it in an old spice jar and then shake it on. It was so good! I haven’t had it in forever but now I want to, especially with a healthier sugar!
It’s great on toast….or almost anything sweet. I hadn’t even thought of the memory until I was writing the post
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yes…because I have the kitchen space for 4 separate containers!! just kidding! I’m glad you posted the variations though because it cuts down the work for me, I’ve had this on my mental to-do list for a while, but I’ve put it off because I’m trying to find a nice ‘sprinkly container’ with bigger holes than a salt shaker (and thats bigger than your average spice container)
Thanks for posting this!….this brings me back to my childhood as well
I know – making 4 varieties is a bit much — but it sure was fun testing them out
. How about a parmesan cheese dispenser?
look at the Goodwill and thrift stores you can find allkinds of shakers there.
Wow! Thats perfect!! …..I wish you could have seen my expression when I read your response…..oh its the little things
Now you can go to bed knowing that you not only encourage women, you help them solve their biggest ‘storage’ dilemmas. haha
I love sinnamon sugar, too! I love cinnamon. Fullstop! I like it best atop of rice pudding.
Haven’t had rice pudding in a long time. Sounds great!
That should be cinnamon, the first time!
)
Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and leaving that sweet comment!
I’m a huge fan of cinnamon sugar — my mom used to make me cinnamon sugar toast too, lol! The cinnamon/nutmeg blend sounds wonderful.
You’re welcome! I hope to try more of your recipes and to stay in touch! We have similar styles of cooking and I love your photos.
We didn’t have it often growing up but occasionally our mother would let us have cinnamon toast! What a treat. Though I grew up in a whole food house (at least for the most part) we also had margarine instead of butter. I think that was during the time when they were crusading that butter was bad for us! So funny now to think back on it. WHat fun recipe variations. I like the one with a tad of nutmeg!
Yes, I remember the “butter is bad for you” thing. And my husband, who really didn’t grow up in an “unhealthy” household, still doesn’t get too excited about eating butter! My mother told me that margarine was delivered to their home as a wad of fake fat in a bag that had yellow liquid in it and they would knead the bad in order to distribute the color throughout the fat. Ick.
Cinammon sugar? I’ve never had it but it sounds great! I mean I love cinammon pastries and to just have some of this to sprinkle on toast would be wonderful!
Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
Best wishes for a fabulous New Year 2012!
Jill @ Creating my way to Success
http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/
I think you’ll like it, Jill – thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for these ‘official’ measurements. I haven’t had cinnamon/sugar on my toast in a long while, but do think I must have some this morning! Appreciate the reminder – great post!
You’re welcome! We hadn’t had it in awhile either. It’s great on my Oatmeal Cake – I’ll go put a link in my post! I think you’ll really like it!
I looooooooove cinnamon, and I actually try to add cinnamon to whatever I can. I think I’ll go with the medium or strongest version
Have you tried the Vietnamese cinnamon? It’s really strong and wonderful.
I haven’t tried it, and I’m not sure if we have it here. I’ll try to find it. Thanks!
Hope you can find it! It is available online via Amazon if you have access to that. If you follow the links to Frontier in my post you can see their cinnamon.
Thanks Adrienne!:)
I’ll buy it via amazon if I can’t find it here.
You’re welcome!
Love hearing all the “test” results!
Thanks for giving exact amounts – I never know how much cinnamon to add. And we already have the cinnamon from Costco!
Hi Lisa – yea! Glad to have helped! I think the Costco is great. But I’d give the Frontier a try when you run out
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Thank you! I love cinnamon & never know how much cinnamon to add to my sweetener when I mix up a batch, usually still have to add cinnamon to whatever I’m making. Thank you!
You’re welcome! You’ll probably like the stronger versions then!
Every now and then I have to treat myself to a piece of cinnamon toast! I love that you have shared a healthier version to the cinnamon-sugar, definatly going to give it a try!
Hope you enjoy it – We’ve made a lot of changes to get sugar out of our diets. Wish we’d done it sooner
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LOVE the idea of putting nutmeg in it!
Hi Wendy! I thought it was pretty neat too
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I have been buying my cinnamon (organic) here, http://www.morethanalive.com/ they carry a variety of products, including essential oils, good customer service plus offer FREE shipping when you purchases total $99 or more. This is where we purchased our Berkey water filter system.
this sounds great! I’d love you to add this (and any other posts you like) to my What We Wore and Made Party over at http://raegunwear.blogspot.com/search/label/WWWMW
Thanks, Marissa! I hope you enjoy it!
These all sound wonderful – I love cinnamon sugar too
Happy New Year!
Thanks, April – and Happy New Year to yoiu too!
Have you tried palm sugar? There are several links online to give you all the information on it.
Hello Missy. No, I haven’t tried it. I did have someone comment about it recently, but I think they were just asking about subbing it. Have you used it a lot? I think that they both have glycemic indexes around 35, right? What do you think about the taste? I personally can’t really have any sugar so I’m thinking it wouldn’t be OK for me.
I use it all the time. Yes that is the index(35), here is some information I found that I shared on my blog. http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/03/sugar.html You can substitute it for the same amount as what is called for in the recipe, but since it is a dense sugar (the kind I get from Asian Markets)it makes the baked goods a little denser. There is also thot not sugar that is a granulated palm sugar, but it can make a baked good a little drier, so I’ll use both sometimes. I think it tastes great and is very sweet. I have not used the kind from the health food stores though, because it is too expensive.
Thanks, Missy. I am confused about part of your comment. It said, “There is also thot not sugar that is a granulated palm sugar.” Could you please explain what you meant? Thanks.
I get it from an Asian Food Market, and they sell thot not sugar, but the ingredients are pur palm sugar, it is just processed differently which makes it granulated instead of thick. Here is a picture of thot not sugar http://grocerythai.com/thot-coconut-palm-sugar-p-989.html Whereas the palm sugar I use (because it is cheaper than granulated sugar from the health food stores) it comes in a jar and is thick, think of the solid texture honey can get if it is old?, that is what my palm sugar is like. I’ll try to take a picture to share with you later, I have a friend who is fixing to come over. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words LOL But it tastes great!
Got it! Thanks! So “thot not” is a type of sweetener – never heard of it! I just looked it up and it means “palmyra palm”. So I guess that the glycemic index of thot not would be the same as coconut or palm. I did find coconut sugar on Amazon for a really nice price: If you get the subscribe and save it is really cheap! Here is a text you can click on to see it: Madhava Organic Coconut Sugar.
Mmmm…I especially like the idea for the nutmeg blend!
Thanks, Jenn! I hope you like it if you try it!
I loved eating cinnamon sugar on toast.. with melted butter. Oh so good. Thanks for the share at this weeks Sugar Free Sunday!
You’re welcome! Seemed funny to add cinnamon sugar to “Sugar Free Sunday” but I’m sure you can understand now!
Just wanted you to know I’m sharing a link to this page today at my post for your Overnight Oatmeal (cake)….a favorite in my house! Thanks so much for all you share.
Thanks much for the link!
i make this all the time – no measurements, though – just go by ‘smell’. LOL As a matter of fact, my youngest had this for breakfast this morning!
Thanks for the sweet memories!
I have the Ceylonese cinnamon sticks from Frontier- the Ceylon cinnamon is the one that helps with diabetes control ( <- me). I'm having trouble deciding on sweetener to use, but I have made my own since I left home 40~cough,cough~ years ago. Ahh- aren't memories great! Thick butter on hot toast, covered with ever thicker layers of cinnamon sugar!
I thought all cinnamon can help w/ that – is that not the case? Thanks!
Hi Adrienne… i saw your post about Splenda and i just want to thank you. I have been running higher then usual blood sugars and now i think i know w. hy. Splenda. I wanted to ask you if you could recommend a sweetner to use in my coffee and to use when i bake. Thank you so much for your help.
Tammy
HI Tammy. I regularly recommend NuNaturals stevia. Have you tried xylitol? I prefer to use stevia whenever I can. For baking I tend to cut sugar in 1/2 and add stevia for sweetness.
I just wanted to thank you, like a few other posts, I have never known how much cinnamon to add in proportion to sugar. I love cinnamon and add it to plain yogurt for a little taste. I will also try the NuNaturals Stevia instead of Splenda. Thank you
You’re welcome. Someone was joking about my recipe on another site saying that “cinnamon sugar” is just “cinnamon sugar” and who needs a recipe. Well, it made a difference for us
. I think you’ll love the stevia 
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Can you make this with stevia powder (pure extract)?
Thanks!
You could—just sub in the appropriate amount. I tend to use 1/32 of a tsp stevia extract for each 1/8 cup sugar.