Quinoa fruity cinnamon breakfast bake

Unless you don’t get out the house much, then “quinoa” is a food that you are probably well and truly familiar with, even if you haven’t cooked with it yet (if not, why not?!) then you have certainly heard of it, or at least had a debate as to whether it is pronounced how it is spelt as “quin-no-a”, or you pronounce it by its Peruvian dialect of “keen-wa”.

Anyway, it has slowly crept up as a staple in my diet and has earned a place in “Alice’s hierarchy of food” along with sweet potato, spinach, oats and salmon, as being a top health food I actually like!

Whilst I have been using quinoa as a staple for lunch and dinner, it also makes a great breakfast!!! Honest. Cue my “fruity cinnamon quinoa breakfast bake bars”.

golden and delicious 

The great thing about this little bake is that there is no fuss when it comes to preparation, can be stored in the fridge or freezer so making a batch can last you a while and they are totally healthy!

My new favourite breakfast! 

Ingredients

1 cup of uncooked quinoa

2 cups of almond milk*

2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon

½ - 1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

2 apples, peeled, cored and diced

½ cup raisins

2 eggs

Generous drizzle of agave nectar

1/3 cup ground almonds

*feel free to use dairy milk, or another milk substitute, such as soya.

You could also include fewer raisins or add a pinch of ground cloves to add a deeper flavour or add chopped almonds of another nut – experiment!!!

experiment with your spices 

How to make this fruity breakfast treat…

Preheat the oven to 180*C and lightly grease a shallow baking dish, I went for a square 8x8 dish

In a bowl, mix the uncooked quinoa, and the spices, and pour into the greased baking dish

Sprinkle the chopped apples and raisins on top.

In a bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, agave nectar and ground almonds together. Pour this milky mixture on top of the fruit and quinoa.

Lightly stir to mix it all up. Then pop into the oven for an hour or so. It will set to a spongy consistency with a milky kind of topping. I would recommend that you bake on a lower heat for longer than a higher heat for a short amount of time, otherwise you will be left with a few crunchy bits of quinoa like I was!

you don't have to be too neat with the apple chopping

this just about fit! 

Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Once cool you can keep it in the fridge. I served mine cold with soya yogurt and warm berries. Totally delicious.

mmmm

action shot

If anyone tried this recipe, please let me know and share any variations you made!!!

X x X

This recipe has been inspired by and adapted from Katie from The Greatist and Katie at the Kitchen Door