Apple & Cinnamon Breakfast Quinoa
A twist on your typical gluten free warm cereal, this Apple & Cinnamon Breakfast Quinoa is creamy, crunchy and nutty without having any nuts at all. A simple technique helps to bring out the nuttiness in the quinoa and enhance its natural texture. The added cream of rice contributes to the smoother and creamy aspect of the texture. Of course the warm spice of the cinnamon and the crisp apples are a fabulous combination to start your day off right.
Simple Ingredients
The ingredients are mostly what you would think. Quinoa, cream of rice cereal, milk, apples, cinnamon, brown sugar. You may not have guessed the butter and the apple juice, however, they aren’t that unusual. The apple juice adds natural sweetness and apple flavor while the butter helps with that nutty technique I mentioned above.
Nutty Technique
Simply put, we are just toasting the grains in a little butter over medium high heat in a saucepan. This is a common technique. If you’ve ever made Rice A Roni, this is the first step. The butter adds flavor and of course, toasting adds flavor.
Dicing Round Things
If you don’t care to spend the time dicing your apples neatly, no worries. This dish will still turn out really well. However, if you have ever wanted to know how to dice a round fruit like apples, here’s how I do it. I am not professionally trained, so I’m sure there are other ways, but this is how I do it.
Start by cutting the apple into quarters. Then lay a quarter on the side and cut the core off on an angle. Holding the apple at the same angle with your fingers on the round side away from the knife, make one or two slices across the width of the piece.
Then lay it flat on the core side and make slices vertically how wide you’d like the dice. Turn the piece 90 degrees and cut vertically again to make the final slices for the dice.
Make the Apple & Cinnamon Breakfast Quinoa
Add the milk, apple juice, cinnamon and brown sugar to the toasted quinoa mixture. Add the apples now if you prefer them softer or wait and add them at the end if you like them more crisp. Once the mixture comes to a boil, cover and allow it to cook on a low heat for 15 to 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it sit for about 5 minutes before serving it up.
Add extra diced apple, brown sugar, maple syrup, or cinnamon on top and enjoy!
More Gluten Free Breakfast Ideas
- Breakfast Stacks
- Stuffed French Toast
- Travel Oatmeal
- Carrot Cake Make Ahead Oatmeal
- Sausage and Egg Casserole
- Bourbon Street Pancakes
- Apple Streusel Pancakes
Apple & Cinnamon Breakfast Quinoa
Ingredients
- ¾ cup quinoa
- ¼ cup cream of rice cereal
- 3 tbsp butter (use coconut oil for dairy free)
- 1 ½ cups whole milk (or dairy free alternative)
- ½ cup apple juice
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 medium honey crisp apple or similar (cored and diced to 1/2 inch)
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over a medium high heat. Stir in the quinoa and cream of rice. Stir constantly for about 5 minutes, allowing the butter to coat the grains and toast them lightly.
- Add the milk, apple juice, light brown sugar, ground cinnamon and diced apple. Stir well to combine the ingredients and allow it to come to a low boil over medium high heat.
- Cover the saucepan with a lid and allow it to continue cooking for about 15-20 minutes. If you prefer that the apples are extra crunchy, wait to stir them after the quinoa mixture is fully cooked.
- Turn off the heat,and let sit for another 5 minutes, stir and divide into bowls. Serve with an extra sprinkle of brown sugar, a drizzle of maple syrup and/or with extra diced apple if you’d like.
