Quinoa Breakfast Bake

This week, I whipped up this breakfast quinoa bake and have really been enjoying it. A quinoa bake was kind of a logical next step when breakfast quinoa is already a staple meal of mine, and overnight oats have inundated the internet. So I threw some ingredients together that I thought might work, and it turned out even better than I hoped – it’s sweet, mild, and fruity, with a consistency similar to rice pudding. Definitely worth getting out of bed for.

Quinoa Breakfast Bake

This quinoa breakfast bake is a perfect example of how to do it right. Mix the flavors up by adding whatever fruit and nuts you like best.

9 Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups skim milk
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 1/2 cups frozen berries
• 1 apple or pear, peeled, cored, and chopped into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-by-8-inch square baking pan, and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together quinoa, cinnamon, and allspice to coat quinoa with spices. Pour quinoa over bottom of prepared pan.
3. In the same bowl used for quinoa, beat eggs until fully mixed. Whisk in the and maple syrup, and beat to combine.
4. Scatter berries, apple or pear, and nuts (if desired) evenly on top of quinoa.
5. Pour egg and milk mixture over top of fruit and quinoa. Lightly stir to partially submerge fruit. (Milk mixture will cook quinoa to create a very soft texture on the inside while creating a lightly crunchy crust on the outside.)
6. Bake for 1 hour, or until casserole is mostly set with only a small amount of liquid left. Serve warm, and refrigerate leftovers.