What little summer we had here in Tasmania has abruptly departed and four days into autumn, there was snow on the mountain. As much as I do love the change in seasons, it was a little hard going from the hope that the long awaited summer was just around the corner, to the realisation that a small number of warm-ish days which I could count on one hand was going to be it for this summer.
Breakfasts in summer are usually a little lighter and cooler than what I would eat in the winter months. Smoothies, chia seed puddings with fresh, seasonal berries and breakfast salads. This past week though has had me craving warmer, heartier food to start the day, such as this Wholegrain Banana Berry Bake.
You can use whatever grains you want here, and it’s a great way to use up any leftover (cooked grains as well). By soaking the uncooked grains overnight it helps to make the grains more nutritious and easily absorbed (see here for more info), and if you want to go one step further, continue with the process and sprout the grains instead.
You could also different fruit here too – I have used berries as they are in season at the moment, as well as bananas, however stewed stone fruit or even mashed citrus like orange or mandarin would be a nice substitute for the banana, and some sliced pear or apple would be a great swap for the berries over the winter months.
This recipe serves B and I for breakfast served with coconut milk, plus leftovers for the next day. You could quite easily double or triple the recipe to make a bigger batch to have on hand for a quick and healthy breakfast option during the week.
- 1 Cup mixed grains (eg buckwheat, millet, quinoa, rolled oats)
- 1tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 ripe bananas
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 - 2 Tbsp honey, optional
- 2/3 cup coconut or almond milk
- 1 egg, lightly whisked
- 1/4 cup shredded coconut
- 1 cup mixed fresh or frozen berries
- 2 Tbsp mixed seeds
- Add the grains and vinegar to a large glass jar and cover with about an inch of water. Cover the jar with a cloth and sit on the bench overnight.
- In the morning, preheat oven to 180 C. Drain and rinse the grains, set aside.
- In an oven proof tin, such as a loaf tin or casserole dish, mash the bananas with the vanilla, cinnamon and honey if using.
- Stir through the milk, coconut and egg, then once all the ingredients are mixed together, stir through the grains.
- Top with the berries and seeds, and bake 35 - 40 minutes.
- I think this dish is sweet enough from the bananas and berries so don't use any additional sweetener when I make it, but if your banana's aren't very ripe you could use a tablespoon or two of honey to sweeten.
It sounds like you had even less than a summer than we did up North. I figure we had about a month in total as the season started out hot and we had a 35C day here…once…but I am not going to complain. If we wanted heat we would all migrate to the mainland ;). I love the look of this baked grain breakfast. I am currently eating porridge with dates cooked into it but once it gets cold enough to start lighting Brunhilda (our wood burning stove) I will be making breakfasts like this on a regular basis as I can “cook” then in the warming ovens overnight. A lovely share and it looks as beautiful as it promises to be nutritious. No snow up here yet but give it time ;)
Thank you :) Ohh, I’m so jealous of your wood stove (or Brunhilda ;) Where exactly up north are you? I’m down in Hobart and it was a pretty dismal summer, though last winter was really mild so I shouldn’t complain.
I can imagine the summer where you are is a little like the one in England. I actually can’t wait for some cooler weather! I am craving a cold day where I can where a jumper and jeans and snuggle on the couch with a blanket. Will it get cold enough for that in Sydney!? It also means I can make breakfasts like these without getting a massive sweat on whilst I eat my breakfast!
Yes it is a little similar. I think it’s probably slightly cooler and a little more rain in England (depending where in England though I guess!) but yes it’s definitely nowhere near as summery as what you would have experienced in Sydney! Sydney definitely gets a bit cooler in winter though definitely different to the winters you would have experienced back home – you may need to take a weekend trip to Melbourne (or Tassie! ;) for that. x
What a fantastic hands-off baked breakfast dish, Dearna! Great for weekends and a change from the usual porridge breakfast. Sorry your summer wasn’t very long, but it’s nice that we overlap a little weather-wise and and what we’re cooking during the transition between seasons. ;-)
Yes very true Katie, I’ve been noticing lately a lot of your recipes are very seasonally appropriate for us here too :) Can’t wait to try some of them out, especially that frittata, yummo!