As I try to keep up with the healthy habits I was starting to establish during my cleanse (no thanks to the likes of these chocolate-hazelnut mousse cakes I made for Lake Champlain Chocolates!), I’ve come to realize that if I don’t get started on the right foot in the morning, my whole day is thrown off. Making sure that I have a healthy breakfast doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll stick to the plan through dinner, but starting the day off with something bad usually means I can’t recover and end up indulging all day. This is good knowledge to be armed with, but it’s still something I struggle to execute on. I like mornings, so that’s not the problem – it’s more that I’m the sort of person who’s perpetually five minutes late to everything because I try to cram too many things into one time slot. So when 8:05 rolls around and I’m still in bed writing emails and catching up on my reader, and I suddenly realize I have exactly 7 minutes to get dressed, make breakfast, clean up from breakfast, brush my teeth, make my lunch, do my hair, and leave, breakfast frequently falls by the wayside. And I’m still 10 minutes late to work.
Enter pre-made breakfasts: I’ve found that having something already made in the fridge makes it about 90% more likely that I’ll eat something nutritious before leaving for work. If it’s something I’m excited about eating, I’ll even go grab a plateful at 7:30 and then return to bed with it. Last week I did really well with a batch of whole wheat fruit and nut pancakes that I made on Sunday and ate throughout the week. 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. You can find the recipe over at Greatist – if you try it, let me know what variations you make!
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I’m with you on the need for pre-made breakfasts! :D This looks great and I’m excited to scope out the recipe over at Greatist.
Hey Katie,
The link to the recipe over at greatist doesn’t seem to be working. Thought I would let you know.
Kieran
Thanks Kieran! Not sure what the deal is, but I’ve posted the recipe for now! Appreciate the heads up.
Hi, super yummy breakfast. Do you pre-cook the quinoa?
Nope, just put it in dry! It cooks while it’s in the oven.
That photo made me desperate to eat this! Looks absolutely gorgeous, like a breakfast crumble. What filter (if any) is on that image?
Thanks, Sarah! No specific filter – I do all my editing in Lightroom.
Hey Katie, looks really great. Could you come over and bring me some for breakfast tomorrow morning?? ;-) Pretty please with quinoa on top!
Oh my goodness, this looks awesome. I have a pretty tough crowd in the form of two little girls to impress at the breakfast table and this recipe will totally knock their socks off! Thanks for sharing this unique take on the pre-made breakfast.
Just made the recipe adapted from pop sugar. Easy, beautiful baked dish. I was wondering if you can easily add oatmeal to the recipe?
Look forward to your response.
Thank you
Hi Mary – so glad you enjoyed the recipe! I think if you added oats to this recipe, they would definitely cook, but might have a funny texture when combined with the quinoa. There are lots of great baked oatmeal dishes out there if that’s what you’re looking for – this baked blackberry oatmeal is one of my favorites!
Is it ok to assemble this the night before and let it sit overnight? Will it get soggy or not cook evenly? I have guests coming next week who are gluten free vegetarians. Trying to make a make-ahead breakfast is proving to be a challenge! This looks like it may check all the boxes. Thanks.
I haven’t tried it, so I’m not sure. Since mixing the ingredients up only takes about 10 minutes, compared to the hour of baking, I think I would either make the whole thing the night before (including baking) and reheat in the morning, or do the whole thing in the morning and budget in that extra 10 minutes. Let me know how it goes!
I adapted this recipe a bit . . . doubled it for one thing – then adding hemp hearts and ground flax, as well as omitting the cloves (too strong). I used half coconut milk, half almond milk, and added dried cranberries instead of raisins, and chopped dried apricots. So, So, So Yummy! I made the original recipe about a month ago – but all ingredients didn’t mix well in the pan – so I mixed it all up in a bowl first, then poured in to the pan. It baked up beautifully! Thanks so much for this awesome recipe. My new fav!
Loved the taste but it falls apart and the quinoa didn’t completely cook. Any suggestions? Do I need to precook quinoa? Someone suggested mixing everything together in a bowl and then into pan. Would love to hear suggestions.
You shouldn’t need to precook it – you could try baking it a little longer to ensure it bakes through (the top layer will stay crunchy, though). As for a firmer consistency, I would try adding an extra egg (or even two).
great ideas, wondered if anyone tried anything besides quinoa, everyone in the house doesnt like it as much as other grains maybe even oats, or millet thanks
Can you freeze this? I keep making it as it’s lovely!
I wanted to make a vegan version, so I submitted 2 Tbls ground flax seed meal + 6 Tbls warm water for the eggs; and used almond milk instead of cow’s milk. Mix the flax seed meal with the warm water and let it congeal before mixing in the milk and syrup. (I started with that and let it sit while I mixed the quinoa and spices, and cut the pear and pecans.) It is very delish! Thanks Katie.