Elevate Those Boring Grits With 2 Ingredients Already In Your Pantry

There's nothing like a bowl of hot grits. It satiates your taste buds and comforts the soul. The beauty of grits is how versatile they can be. Savory grits filled with cheese, bacon, a sprinkle of everything bagel seasoning, or a little butter can be quite satisfying next to your favorite barbecue dishes, but for an easy way to upgrade your grits, reach for a little cinnamon and sugar. If you love cinnamon toast in the morning, then you know this classic duo can unleash the inner Chi of this maize porridge and maybe even entice those who may be a little shy about eating this staple.

Cinnamon and sugar will not only bring sweetness to your creamy and smooth grits, but it's also an easy addition. You probably already have these two ingredients in your pantry for baking purposes, and this combo works whether you are adding them to this hot cereal made from scratch or using a package of the instant variety. To create a stash of cinnamon sugar to have handy whenever you are making grits, use a half cup of sugar to 2 tablespoons of cinnamon if you like both flavors to shine through; however, if you like your cinnamon sugar a little sweeter, opt for a ratio of 1 cup of sugar to 1 tablespoon of cinnamon.

You can start with just a sprinkle of your homemade cinnamon sugar and add as much or as little as you like. That's the great thing about adding flavor to grits — you get to control the amount. And then there's sugar's indirect impact on the taste of whatever you add it to. Obviously, sugar is sweet and imparts those notes to whatever it touches, but it also highlights the hidden sweetness of foods. Grits are made from ground corn and have a layer of sweetness that can only be truly detected when you add a little sugar.

That said, these two ingredients may cause a food fight if you are a grits purist. There is a contingency of grits eaters that call foul if you add sugar to them and will call you out for it on social media; however, your taste buds, your grits. If you want them to be sweet, tune out that online white noise, add the sugar and cinnamon, and file this tip away with your amazing brunch recipes to make the next time it's your turn to host.