Quirky, Crunchy Quinoa
June 21, 2011 at 9:42 am | Posted in Baking / Cooking, Food | 51 CommentsTags: breakfast, cereal, healthy, quinoa, recipe, vegan
Craving a thick slice of cake first thing in the morning isn’t such an unusual thing in this house; Typically, one would simply need to pick up a knife, and shave a hunk off of whatever was made the day prior to indulge that impulse. The breakfast of champions, we would joke to anyone who could hear it, and possibly question that breakfast choice. Lately though, the cake stand has remained clean and empty, tucked away with the other stacks of plates and props in the closet. Time is getting the best of me, with the demands of so many freelance assignments on top of a brand new school semester to juggle, and the pastries just aren’t flying out of the kitchen like they used to. Plus, working on an ice cream cookbook demands that the oven remain silent for the better part of the week, lest I end up contending with a very messy and sticky photo shoot mid-afternoon.
So, what’s a gal with a yen for something sweet supposed to do in the early morning, craving something reminiscent of cake? Given the time to think about it and prepare in advance, make something healthier.
Perhaps I’ve strayed too far off the pastry path for some of you, but believe it or not, this quinoa concoction fulfilled that breakfast craving. Think carrot cake with a crunchier outcome, this simple cereal is more like granola in texture, but still much lighter than the typical nut- and fruit-heavy options.
I like it best with the sweetness and gentle twang of vanilla coconut yogurt (that early in the morning, I can almost pretend it’s cream cheese frosting) plus fresh berries, but the beauty of this basic formula is how easy it is to dress it up or down. Go crazy with mix-ins, or just eat it out of hand, on the go. This was just the healthy remodel that my “cake for breakfast” habit was long overdue for anyway!
Carrot Cake Quinoa Cereal
Inspired by Oh She Glows
1 Cup Uncooked Quinoa
2 Cups Carrot Juice
1 Tablespoon Flax Seeds, Ground
1 Tablespoon Chia Seeds
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
3 – 4 Tablespoons Agave Nectar
1 1/4 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Pinch Ground Nutmeg
Pinch Salt
Begin by cooking your quinoa in the carrot juice. Simply bring the carrot juice to a boil in a small pot, and add in the dry quinoa. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and let cook gently for 15 – 20 minutes, until the liquid has all been absorbed. Let cool completely before proceeding. You can speed this up by transferring the cooked quinoa to a large bowl and stirring it around a bit, to let it air-dry more quickly.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees, and lightly grease a baking sheet with sides.
In a medium bowl, mix the cooled quinoa in with all of the remaining ingredients. Spread the mixture out on your prepared sheet, in as thin and even a layer as you can manage. This will help the cereal bake up nice and crispy, so take your time smoothing it out with either a spatula or lightly moistened hands.
Bake for 45 – 60 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes or so, until lightly browned and seemingly dry. It may still have a little bit of “bounce” to it, but don’t worry; it will continue to crisp up as it cools.
Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
Makes about 2 – 3 Servings
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I’m seriously going to have to try this–I’m a huge quinoa fan.
Comment by wendypchef— June 21, 2011 #
Oooh, what a great idea! I LOOOOVE carrot cake, but this is a much healthier way to indulge. Bravo, Hannah!!
Comment by Bethany— June 21, 2011 #
I absolutely love this idea! A quinoa granola-eque bowl in the morning sounds like the perfect pick-me-up. :)
Comment by Jes— June 21, 2011 #
Man, this looks great. It makes me (almost) wish that I had a juicer to make my own carrot juice. I guess I might be able to ask the juice counter to make me just carrot juice, so that it’s freshest.
Comment by Johanna W.— June 21, 2011 #
Ha, me too! I actually bought my carrot juice from Trader Joe’s… Since it’s being baked anyway, I figured it doesn’t need to be uber ultra right-out-of-the-earth fresh, and bottled is fine anyway. Bolthouse brand also makes a plain carrot juice that you can find at most grocery stores.
Comment by Hannah (BitterSweet)— June 21, 2011 #
Trader Joe’s carrot juice it is — this looks too good not to make. I never would have thought to make granola from quinoa, but why not?
Comment by Andrea— June 21, 2011 #
I don’t think I’ve ever seen bottled carrot juice around here (Saskatchewan), but I do happen to have a juicer, and I do have a fondness for buying 10lb bags of carrots (they’re cheap!). Also, this is a really neat idea for preparing quinoa and I’m excited to try it!
Comment by Allysia— June 21, 2011 #
I love quinoa,which I first ate in Peru some years ago. What a great idea to use it like that:)
Comment by Yaelian— June 21, 2011 #
woah! i love quinoa and use it a lot but this is a totally new approach. thanks for sharing! TJs usually has cheap organic carrot juice too. :) wondering how this may work if i froze it instead of popping it in the oven. bookmarked it with my cookmarked.com account. looking fwd to experimenting!
Comment by laura— June 21, 2011 #
I would place serious money on the fact that this makes for an awesome late night snack as well!
Comment by Joanne— June 21, 2011 #
I have never tried quinoa before but this looks really tempting …I must try it
Comment by thefooddoctor— June 21, 2011 #
This looks amazing, and I love that you are busy with all these freelance assignments! That’s awesome and exciting. And inspiring! Delish.
Comment by Grace@ Food-Fitness-FreshAir— June 21, 2011 #
You had me at Carrot Cake. :) I never would have thought to cook the quinoa in carrot juice. I love sprinkling on some granola or toasted quinoa cereal on top of…well, pretty much everything! I will have to try this soon!
Comment by Angela— June 21, 2011 #
Thanks Angela, and thank you for the original inspiration! The idea to turn simple cooked quinoa into a crispy breakfast cereal is just brilliant.
Comment by Hannah (BitterSweet)— June 24, 2011 #
What a wonderful breakfast this would be… love the photos.. ;o)
Comment by Jannett— June 21, 2011 #
You had me at carrot cake… anything even remotely resembling my favorite cake grabs my attention, and this quinoa cereal has certainly done just that. I just bought a bottle of carrot juice to make your carrot cake ice cream, but this might need to be made first!
Comment by Lauren @ Healthy Food For Living— June 21, 2011 #
You have not strayed too far for me…this sounds like an amazing way to start your day.
p.s. Can I come over for breakfast? I can be there early, with a fresh batch of almond milk.
Comment by veganlisa— June 21, 2011 #
I love the idea of a granola-like cereal made out of quinoa! And you’re right, vanilla coconut topping would be fantastic…who needs “real” cake? ;)
Comment by Faith— June 21, 2011 #
Carrot Cake Quinoa Cereal – brilliant!!! Love it!!! I want a large bowl right now!
Comment by Pure2raw twins— June 21, 2011 #
I often wondered what quinoa would when baked. This sounds delish!! I LOVE Carrot Cake!
Comment by letourneaujen83— June 21, 2011 #
I often wondered what cooked quinoa would do when baked. lol….silly typos
Comment by letourneaujen83— June 21, 2011 #
This sounds so good! And easy, too. I never really make quinoa for the mornings but it must be perfect with all its protein. Have you tried quinoa flakes?
Comment by FoodFeud— June 21, 2011 #
Ah yes- Quinoa flakes are not bad if they’re baked into something (used as a binder for vegan “meat”balls, for instance) but I’m not so crazy about them when they’re the star ingredient. Not sure what it is, but the flavor turns me off. Maybe I’m just expecting a flavor more like oats is all.
Comment by Hannah (BitterSweet)— June 24, 2011 #
Wooohooo just bought some quinoa today!!! This rocks :)
Comment by The Food and Love Diaries— June 21, 2011 #
This sounds so good! I love quinoa for breakfast
Comment by Kat @ Cupcake Kat— June 21, 2011 #
AAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AMAZING! If only I could find carrot juice… hmm. Wait, I’m sure I could get a juice bar at the shops to make some for me! YES!
Comment by Hannah— June 22, 2011 #
I saw this on OSG a few months ago and decided to make it. I was very disappointed with the results–it never dried like proper cereal til it was almost burnt. Maybe it’s because I didn’t let it cool before crisping up completely. It was so crunchy and hard, it hurt my teeth. but, I trust you, if you made it, I know it’s got to be good. Let me give it another try soon because I love the idea of making my own cereal! And granola is getting a little boring :)
Comment by DessertForTwo— June 22, 2011 #
Only you can replace cake with something healthy and delicious looking.
Comment by Oiyi— June 22, 2011 #
I love the idea of crunchy carrot cake quinoa! It looks like a perfect topper for yogurt.
Comment by sally— June 22, 2011 #
I’ve tossed quinoa in when I make granola but this is taking it to a whole higher level! Love it!
Comment by stephchows— June 22, 2011 #
I love this idea! I make a quinoa “oatmea” for breakfast sometimes but quinoa granola sounds much better in the summer. Thanks!
Comment by Delicious Knowledge— June 22, 2011 #
This recipe is sticking on my fridge door forever. Every-time I will try to eat breakfast of the champion, I will start boiling my carrot juice.
Comment by sensiblecooking— June 22, 2011 #
I’ve never had quinoa before (on its own) but that looks absolutely delicious! Although, I will admit that you’ve just sparked a craving for double chocolate oreo cake for breakfast tomorrow.
Comment by AikoVenus— June 23, 2011 #
I just looked at the bag of quinoa on the shelf thinking I should cook something with it. Thank you for the inspiration, Hannah!
Comment by mihl— June 23, 2011 #
Great idea! Now if I can only get off my butt to make some before morning…
Comment by DJ Karma— June 23, 2011 #
Mmm I’ve been meaning to make granola at home and how awesome and healthy that you used quinoa! Yummy…
Comment by Xiaolu— June 23, 2011 #
Mmmmm, what an idea. I have never thought that you can make sth like this from quinoa. I am more than willing to try it :-)
Comment by Joanna in the kitchen— June 23, 2011 #
Had Quinoa for breakfast this morning. With raisins, apple, & cinnamon.
Love it sprouted also.
Comment by Get Skinny, Go Vegan.— June 23, 2011 #
This is a lovely gluten free recipe! Thank you so much for sharing. I’m looking forward to trying this so that I can have more breakfast options! I get so sick of the same old thing every morning!
Comment by Amanda— June 23, 2011 #
What an interesting use of quinoa! Love it!
Comment by Jillian— June 23, 2011 #
Just looking at those blueberries makes me salivate… Great pics!
Comment by Tiggered— June 24, 2011 #
Looks amazing, bet it tastes even better!!! I can’t wait to make it!!!
Comment by matt— June 28, 2011 #
Wow. I’ve never thought to put Quinoa over my yogurt. I always use granola, nuts, berries, and a drizzle of honey but this looks like another healthy alternative.
Comment by Foodtopiii— June 29, 2011 #
Wow, what a great idea! Thanks for sharing girl!
Comment by Charissa— June 29, 2011 #
[...] am really impressed by Hannah’s carrot cake quinoa cereal and will try to make some this month, how amazing an idea is it? To take part, simply make a [...]
Pingback by Breakfast Club #13: The Theme Is ... | Fuss Free Flavours— July 1, 2011 #
I make vegan carrot cake shakes and this would be like the ultimate topping for them :) it looks amazing!
Comment by O.c. Ziegler— July 3, 2011 #
Tried this recipe tonight- Had it over vanilla greek yogurt & it was delicious! The prefect ending to my dinner. Great idea:) I added walnuts & raisins to make it even more like carrot cake. yummm.
Comment by caitlin— July 4, 2011 #
This looks delicious! I’ve been obsessed with Quinoa this summer and I’ve been making everything with it–soups, stir-fries, burgers. I’m so glad I now finally have a breakfast recipe to replace my beloved granola (tasty—but apparently chock-full of butter :/)
Comment by Daisy Jay— July 8, 2011 #
I’ve tried Angela’s maple quinoa before and really enjoyed it and so I’m super interested in this carrot version you’ve made! It sounds amazing.
Comment by Ashley— July 21, 2011 #
wow hannah , I wonder if we can do this recipe raw with oats instead and in the dehydrator ????
Comment by tynne— August 27, 2011 #
[...] Quirky, Crunch Quinoa Cake for breakfast? Your tastebuds will think so with this yummy recipe. Quinoa cooked in carrot juice and then baked into a crunchy granola, just like mom used to make, right? Via BitterSweet [...]
Pingback by Women's Health News: What We're Reading This Week | WH This Just In— November 9, 2011 #