Cherry Breakfast Bake

Name: Cherry Breakfast Bake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Ingredients: 2.5 cups jumbo (wholegrain) Rolled Oats; 1.5 cups flour (- use rice flour to make it wheat free); 0.5 cups sugar (- raw or rapadura is nice); 2 tsp psyllium husk powder (- whole psyllium husks also work well); 1 tsp baking Soda; 0.5 tsp salt; 2 bananas; 2 Tbsp golden flax meal (to make the flax egg (hence 'wet' ingredient)); 6 Tbsp warm water; 2 Tbsp olive oil; 1 tsp vanilla essence; 200 grams frozen pitted cherries; 0.75 cups plant milk; 50 grams yogurt

This delicious, filling, make-ahead Cherry Breakfast Bake is perfect for those busy mornings.. or afternoons.

busy? Breakfast bakes are your friend

Cherry lovers, please prepare to file this cherry breakfast bake recipe in the mental folder called:

Which, to be honest, is a descriptive summary of my entire approach to nutrition, and should probably be the name of my business. Time for a re-brand?

There’s a lot of cool stuff to do in life. This means that sometimes there’s time to prepare a nice breakfast when you wake up, and other times you just want to grab-and-go and that’s where breakfast bakes/bars are there for you. Getting out of bed 10 minutes before your morning stand up? No worries, cherry breakfast bakes will save you from the hangries.

tips for the cherry breakfast bake recipe

This recipe really couldn’t be easier, but there are a couple of things to keep in mind:

The mix will seem too dry. Avoid the temptation to add more liquid as you don’t want soggy bars. If it’s not coming together, let it rest for a minute then get in there and squeeze with your hands.

You can use eggs instead of the flax eggs. If you do this, be even more cautious when adding the plant milk.

The bake will become more firm. If it seems a bit ‘fally-aparty’ at first, don’t stress. As it cools, and with storage it will become more sturdy.

Freezing is fine. The bars handle freezing very well, and if you’re in a pinch grab one straight from the freezer and microwave it to satisfying delicious warmness.

cherry picking nutrition facts

cherries contain melatonin

You probably seen cherry juice advertised as a sleeping aid. The reason is that cherries contain phytomelatonin, the plant version of melatonin, the sleep hormone. The concentration is small, at around 14 ng/g of cherry flesh, but it does raise the question.. should this be a sleep bar, rather than a breakfast bar? Don’t fret though, melatonin requires darkness to have a sleep promoting effect.

cherries are good if you have gout

Gout is a painful inflammation of the big toe caused by an accumulation of uric acid. Cherries reduce acute and chronic gout, and this is thought to be because they get their colour from phenolic antioxidant anthocyanins and contain quercitin. Both of these reduce uric acid and inflammation.

This study found that cherry or cherry extract intake of over two days was associated with a 35% – 45% decreased risk of a gout attack. The most effective cherry dose was 1.5 cups of fresh cherries.

serving suggestion - balance it up!

If you’ve ever consulted a Nutritionist or Dietitian you’ve probably had them look you in the eye and try to mentally impart the importance of protein at breakfast time. There are so many reasons to get your proteins in, including balanced blood sugar / energy throughout the day, increased satiety (feeling satisfied for longer), and feeding your muscles (which I’ve lately seen called ‘moosels’ and I like it).

Therefore, I’d recommend pairing this breakfast bake with a protein source, and my two favourites at breakfast time are either some yogurt, a glass of kefir or a protein shake. If you are vegan you can make a vegan protein shake, or mix some protein powder into your coconut yogurt.

By the way, I tried to take a nice pic of spooning the yogurt onto the bake but in every shot it looked like I was loading it with a poached egg… which would be a good protein source, but perhaps not so complementary to the dish as the yogurt it actually was.

Ok, let’s get on with it!

Cherry breakfast bake recipe (woohoo!)

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Cherry Breakfast Bake

Whip this up in 15 minutes and your breakfast is done for the next week or two. Packed with nutritious cherries and lots of fibre, these vegan-friendly, wheat-free breakfast bake bars will leave you feeling ready to take on the day.

Prep Time15

Cook Time25

Course: Breakfast

Keyword: breakfast bake, breakfast bar, cherries, Vegan, wheat free

Servings: Bars

Author: Sara Lake

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

2.5 cups jumbo (wholegrain) Rolled Oats
1.5 cups flour - use rice flour to make it wheat free
0.5 cups sugar - raw or rapadura is nice
2 tsp psyllium husk powder - whole psyllium husks also work well
1 tsp baking Soda
0.5 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients

2 bananas
2 Tbsp golden flax meal to make the flax egg (hence 'wet' ingredient)
6 Tbsp warm water
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp vanilla essence
200 grams frozen pitted cherries
0.75 cups plant milk

To Serve (Optional)

50 grams yogurt

Instructions

Pre-heat your oven to 185°C (365°F) and line a baking dish with baking paper (or use a non-stick dish

Get the Flax Egg ready

Put the flax meal and warm water in a small bowl, mix and let it sit

Combine the dry ingredients

Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine
Mash the bananas with a fork until they become a banana paste
Add all the other wet ingredients EXCEPT the plant milk and cherries
Combine the dry and wet ingredients and stir them with a sturdy implement (wide wooden spatula is what we use!). The mix will be very stiff and not very wet
Add the flax egg
Add half the plant milk and keep stirring
Add the cherries and mix them through. At this point you may want to just get your hands in there and start squishing. If there is still visible flour and dry ingredients, add the rest of the plant milk.

Put the Cherry Bake into the baking dish

Dump the cherry bake mix into the baking dish and press it down with damp fingers
Bake at 185°C for 20 minutes. It should be firm to the touch when ready, slightly springy and lightly browned. If it doesn't meet these criteria, give it another 5-10 minutes
Let cool and then slice into 12 bars
Optional: Serve with yogurt

Notes

Store this in the fridge or freezer and your breakfasts are ready for quite some time! What I usually do is microwave one serving for 20 seconds and then plop a decent helping of gorgeous greek yogurt on the top. Such a great way to start the day.

Note: the nutrition values for this bar do not include any yogurt added.

Nutrition

Let me know in the comments if you make this breakfast bake, and while you are here what is your top tip for getting some nutrition in on busy mornings?

Sara

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Cherry Breakfast Bake

This delicious, filling, make-ahead Cherry Breakfast Bake is perfect for those busy mornings.. or afternoons.

busy? Breakfast bakes are your friend

tips for the cherry breakfast bake recipe