Cherry Chocolate Baked Quinoa Breakfast

If you are looking for a morning oatmeal substitute this cherry chocolate baked quinoa breakfast is the recipe for you. Easy to make with frozen cherries and dark chocolate chips, this quinoa breakfast bake is a healthy and sweet way to start your day.

You might also like this cranberry orange quinoa breakfast bowl.

Once school starts I start thinking about warming breakfast ideas to start the day. My husband loves oatmeal in the colder weather so I thought I’d give him a healthy option with this chocolate cherry baked quinoa breakfast.

I specifically used the cherry chocolate flavor combination because it’s one of his favorites and I also had a large bag of frozen cherries from Costco! The result is sweet, but not too sweet, with chewy quinoa and melty chocolate. YUM!

It tastes like a cross between baked oatmeal and bread pudding with a healthy twist. This is the kind of breakfast meal you can feel good about eating.

Why eat quinoa for breakfast?

Quinoa is actually a seed, but is classified as a whole grain. It’s also a complete source of plant protein. I love it because you can make both sweet and savory dishes with it and it has a chewy texture like most cooked grains.

Quinoa health benefits:

• high in fiber
• high in protein
• good source of magnesium, B vitamins and minerals
• contains all the essential amino acids you need (source)

Recipe ingredients I used.

Whenever I make quinoa, I make sure to make extra because you can do so much with it. The ingredient is used in this recipe is cooked quinoa, almond milk, ground flaxseed, Swerve brown sugar sweetener, frozen cherries, dark chocolate chips and vanilla extract.

Note when using frozen berries or other frozen fruit, you want it to thaw a bit before using so there isn’t added liquid.

How to make this chocolate cherry baked quinoa breakfast.

Note if you are using uncooked quinoa please follow the instructions on the package and cook it before making this recipe.

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350°F and get out 2 ramekins or small oven safe bowls. Spray with nonstick cooking spray or brush them a little melted butter.

Step 2: In a medium bowl, add vanilla, almond milk and Swerve brown sugar sweetener and mix well. 

Step 3: Add the quinoa and flaxseed to the wet ingredients and mix again. Then gently fold in the chopped cherries and chocolate chips.  Spoon the quinoa mixture into the ramekins of a small baking dish.

Step 4: Place in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, checking for doneness. Let cool before eating. Store extras in an airtight container in the refrigerator. (Please scroll down to see and print the recipe card.)

Below you can see what they look like when done. I used both ramekins and these oven proof custard cups. This recipe makes 2 individual portions so you can double it if you want breakfast for a few days.

Recipe tips and notes.

• When I need cooked quinoa for a recipe, I like to make extra because there is so much you can make with it. You can make a hot cereal breakfast quinoa like this recipe or a savory cold mint zucchini salad.
• I used frozen cherries but you could also use fresh if you want and can take out the pits. The cherries I used were no packed in a sweet syrup. Just fresh frozen cherries.
• The chocolate I used was Lily’s chocolate chips. They are sugar free and lower in carbs. You can even use a good dark chocolate bar as a healthy substitute.
• I like the flavor of brown sugar in these kinds of recipes so I used Swerve brown sugar sweetener again for sugar free, low carb substitute. You could also use coconut sugar or any kind of sweetener you want.
• Lastly play around with this recipe by trying different fruit, nuts, seeds, flavor extracts, sweeteners like honey or maple syrup, etc. instead of the chocolate and cherries that I used. Bananas and pecans might be nice with the chocolate.

I hope you give this baked quinoa breakfast a try. It’s really good to me and I can’t wait to play around with different flavors. My husband also love apricot and peach flavors so that might be my next try. You can make some many different kinds of healthy meals from quinoa. Enjoy!