Friday, June 6, 2008

Crunchy Buckwheat Cereal

I have NO idea where I got the idea to do a search for buckwheat. Just popped into my head yesterday. But this recipe is what that search yielded. I'll be looking for more ways to incorporate buckwheat into our diets after doing further research on it's properties of goodness. Buckwheat is not a grain at all apparently...it's classified as a fruit and is related to rhubarb. It's gluten- free and has nothing to do with actual wheat. I found a lot of nutritional info on buckwheat, but honestly Oprah's website distilled it best and presented it in the most plain lingo. So I'll link to that buckwheat info page instead. ;-)

Crunchy Buckwheat Cereal:
(VegFamily Magazine)


If you like those Middle Eastern sesame honey candies, this is the cold cereal for you! It totally reminds me of them for some reason...even though I didn't use tahini or honey. :-) I personally think it makes more than 4 servings. I liked it mixed with a lighter puffed cereal (I'm going to mix it with plain puffed kamut tomorrow). It'd probably be too overwhelming to eat a 1/2 cup plain. Another great option is eating this with fresh berries over plain yogurt. Might have to do that tomorrow instead of the kamut! In any case...it's super easy to make, and really good for you. I just happened upon the recipe yesterday and decided to make it this morning for breakfast. The Monster had already eaten his bowl of regular cereal, but I sure enjoyed it!
  • 2 cups raw whole buckwheat groats (I bought mine in the bulk section of the regular grocery store)
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup, brown rice syrup, or agave nectar (I used agave nectar)
  • 1/4 cup nut or seed butter...almond butter, tahini, etc. (I used roasted unsweetened cashew butter, also from the bulk section)
addendum: I have to say...I've started adding a touch (~1 Tb each?) more of both the nut butter and the sweetener and it's extra yummy, just an fyi. ;-)

Preheat oven to 300ºF.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine nut butter and sweetener and set aside.
Spread buckwheat on large baking sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Stir buckwheat around a bit.
Roast for 15 to 20 minutes more until golden. I went for the full 20.


Immediately mix hot buckwheat into sweetener and nut or seed butter until buckwheat is coated. Cool. Store in covered jar in refrigerator. To serve, place 1/2 cup of cereal in bowl, cover with milk. Add fresh or dried fruit if desired.

Makes 4 servings

I love this either with unsweetened soymilk, or just sprinkled on top of plain yogurt.

Update:
All right, maybe I'm just a weirdo...but I can't stop eating this stuff! I just finished my 4th helping of the day! I'm loving just snacking on it plain...Ok, now you can make it. :-)

6 comments:

greenmom said...

Cereal sounds great----but addictive. What store did you find the groats----I too am from Austin (south). I see buckwheat as the next super food. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Lisa

Erndog said...

Hi Lisa- I've purchased the buckwheat groats in the bulk sections of both Central Market South and the HEB on Slaughter and Escarpment (Circle C). Hope you enjoy the recipe! (oh btw, you can also buy the roasted cashew butter at CM's bulk section)
~Erin

Anonymous said...

Hi, this sounds like a great recipe.

But, I live in Sweden and was just wondering about some substitutions. While I think grocery shopping here is in general healthier than the States (less processed foods, more flour choices in all stores etc) a lot of the new health things that you can find in Whole Foods, etc are not here (at least I haven't found them).

For this recipe, what can I use for the sweetner and butter? Could I use a simple syrup (sugar+water, boiled) and can I use regular butter? or Peanut butter? Or? what options can I use that you would find in any US grocery store?

thanks!

Erndog said...

Hi Anon in Sweden,
You wouldn't want to use dairy butter in this...you can definitely use any nut or seed butter though (I use processed plain roasted cashews). My favorite is the cashew, but peanut, almond, hazelnut, sesame (tahini) etc. would be great too. For the sweetener, I would use honey in lieu of the agave nectar. Hope you're able to make this. I just whipped up a batch last night as a matter of fact. :-)

Erndog said...

Hey Anon, s'me again. I just had a totally evil idea. Why not just use Nutella in place of both the nut butter and sweetener?! Not quite as healthy, but could be a fantastic treat!

Anonymous said...

thanks for the help! will be trying it soon! we are in the search for healthier food choices and breakfast can be hard... nutella does sound good... that stuff is amazing. ;)