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Breakfast Chia Pudding with Mango and Blackberries

January 1, 2018 By Caroline 7 Comments

One small change in your weekly routine can boost your overall well-being. Taking only 15 minutes of active time to make, this chia pudding can be added to your weekly breakfast rotation with ease. Among the healthiest superfoods on the planet, chia seeds deliver a massive amount of nutrition with very few calories. The tiny seeds pack in protein, fibre, antioxidants, iron and calcium. Lucious mango sauce and juicy blackberries top the pudding for a breakfast you’ll actually look forward to waking up to. What I love about this quick fix is how it keeps me full and energized all morning.


Berries, chia seed pudding and mango are layered into a healthy breakfast

Begin the night before, as the chia seeds need time to soak and thicken. In a sealable container, add the chia seeds first. (Start with the chia seeds on the bottom as it’s easier to stir them in that way. They are very light and will float when added on top of liquid.) I prefer using white chia seeds as I find the black seeds tend to clump up and don’t combine with the milk quite as well (and the white seeds look a bit nicer) but black chia seeds will work if they are all you have on hand.

Plain whole white chia seeds

Next, add your milk. This can be any milk of your choice—I just use regular 2% dairy, but you can also use almond milk, soy, etc. Give it a good stir with a fork and let sit on the counter for a minute or two. Then stir it up again before covering and placing in the fridge to rest overnight. I find this extra stir helps ensure the seeds don’t settle on the bottom of the dish, where they can clump together a bit the next day.

Soak chia seeds in milk overnight

The next morning, you’ll notice the milk has thickened and the chia seeds have absorbed much of the liquid. Add in plain greek yogurt and stir to create a nice, rich pudding texture. Set aside—you now have a versatile chia pudding base that can become a healthy staple in your breakfast repertoire!

Greek yogurt is added to chia mixture to make chia pudding

Next, make the mango puree (you can also make this the night before to save yourself time in the morning). Combine mango chunks and the juice of half a lemon and puree. Give it a taste—if your mangos weren’t quite ripe and on the firm side, the puree might need a touch of sugar or honey. If your mangos are very ripe and sweet, add in the second half of the lemon juice. Ideally, make this with very ripe mangos so that no additional sugar is required. In fact, this puree is a great way to use up over-ripe mango that has become fibrous as the blender breaks down all the stringy bits, and lemon juice brings back the tart quality of fresh mango.

Fresh mango and lemon juice are blended into a delicious sauce

Finally, layer all of the ingredients into your breakfast serving. Confession: I don’t use fancy parfait glasses like the one in the photos for my daily breakfast, just a regular bowl does just fine! But the glass does show the layers off well, and if you were making this for brunch with friends, they are a nice touch.

Start with fresh blackberries at the bottom of the dish. Next layer on the chia pudding, followed by mango sauce and then a bit more chia pudding on top with a few berries for garnish. (Use 1/3 of the chia pudding per serving) If you have some large flake coconut it adds a nice crunch on top.

There is enough chia pudding for 3 servings—it keeps well in the fridge for up to 4 days, along with the mango puree. Even if you make a batch of this for yourself once per week, you’ll be having a superfood breakfast regularly to give you energy and boost your health. No time to make the mango puree? No problem—just use any fresh berries with a bit of honey and granola to top off the chia pudding.

Blackberries, chia pudding and blackberries are layered into a parfait

Try making it on a Sunday night and see how you feel by Wednesday after having it for three breakfasts in a row. Personally, I’m hooked—the mix of protein, nutrients and fresh fruit keep my energy high and my morning well-fuelled. It’s amazing how one small change to your weekly routine can make a big difference to how you feel. You just might get hooked on this healthy indulgence too, and make chia pudding part of your morning breakfast routine. I would love to hear if chia pudding is your new binge—leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Chia Pudding with Mango Sauce and Blackberries
Healthy chia pudding is layered with mango puree and blackberries
5 from 2 votes
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Chia pudding with mango and blackberries

Healthy, delicious and filling, I make this for chia pudding for breakfast every week, changing up the berries depending on what looks good at the market that week.

Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Prep Time 15 minutes
Servings 3

Ingredients

Chia pudding

  • 1/4 cup whole white chia seeds
  • 1 cup milk of your choice (dairy, almond, anything goes)
  • 1 cup plain greek yogurt
  • blackberries or any berries of your choice
  • large flake coconut for garnish

Mango puree

  • 1 1/2 cups chopped mango (about 2 medium)
  • 1 lemon (juiced)

Instructions

  1. Place chia seeds in a medium bowl (large enough to hold 2 cups). Add milk over top of seeds, stirring well with a fork. Let sit on counter for 2–3 minutes, and stir again. Transfer to fridge for a minimum of six hours, or overnight.

  2. Add yogurt to the chia seed mixture and stir well to combine to create a nice pudding texture.

  3. Combine mango and half of the lemon juice in a small food processor. Blend until well combined. Taste the puree—depending on how ripe and sweet your mangos are, you may want to either add a bit of sugar or honey if it tastes sour, or add more lemon juice if the mangos were very ripe and it is tasting too sweet.

  4. In your serving bowl, layer berries, some chia pudding, mango puree and a bit more chia pudding. (Use a third of the pudding per serving) Top with additional berries and garnish with coconut flakes. Serve and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

The mango puree is a great natural sweetener, but if you don't have time to make it, just use your favourite berries and drizzle with a bit of honey. Also tastes great with a bit of granola on top.

Filed Under: Breakfast, Recipe Tagged With: berries, blackberries, blackberry, chia, Healthy, Mango, pudding, yogurt

Test-Kitchen: Martha Stewart Apple-Cider Doughnut Bundt Cake

October 17, 2017 By Caroline 5 Comments

Martha Stewart came out with a new book last May, called A New Way to Bake. Touted as “the next-generation home-baking bible,” the book claims to offer healthy alternatives to your favourite baked goods with ingredients including whole-grain flours, quinoa, chia and coconut oil. The bundt cake on the cover caught my eye so I decided to give it a try.

Cross-section of the sliced cake shows a nice crumb

This recipe takes advantage of fresh apple cider, whole wheat flour, olive oil and unsweetened applesauce.

A slide of Martha's Apple Cider Donut Cake

I found the final result was a cake with a lovely texture, moist but not too dense. It sort of reminded me of a cake doughnut/coffee cake hybrid.

For me, the one fail was the natural cane sugar coating on the outside of the cake. It just wouldn’t stick to the cake, the texture of the sugar is too coarse so I could not achieve the lovely look of Martha’s cover cake. I finally gave up and simply sifted some icing sugar with cinnamon on top instead.

Cake on pretty glass stand with soft blue background

Overall this is a solid cake recipe that tastes great. You feel a bit less guilty eating it because of the whole wheat flour and other healthy substitutions. It still has quite a bit of sugar, so I’m not sure you could exactly call it healthy, but replacing some refined sugar with the applesauce and apple cider seem like healthier substitutes. I found it was nice to take to the office for a mid-afternoon snack the next day, too. Get the recipe here.

 

 

Filed Under: Dessert, Recipe Tagged With: apple, Apple Cider Bundt Cake, cake, cider, Doughnut, Healthy, Martha Stewart, Test, test kitchen, Whole wheat

Whole Wheat Cranberry Apple Scones

April 8, 2017 By Caroline Leave a Comment

Apples, cranberries and flour in a bowl

Ever purchase some specialty flour like cake or whole wheat, only to have it sit there for a year and never have any need for it again? Determined not to let that happen to my recently purchased whole wheat flour, I decided to try out this recipe for scones. While this scone is not the buttery, crisp on the outside, melt-in-your-mouth scone of my dreams, they were a great mid-day snack and would be a lovely addition to any brunch. Bonus: unlike their buttery brethren, these will actually leave you feeling good after you eat them.

scone broken apart showing juicy cranberries on a red rimmed china plate

Based somewhat on a recipe from Epicurious, I changed things up by using fresh apples and cranberries rather than dried. I also substituted fresh pressed apple cider for the frozen concentrate, and I didn’t have buttermilk so went with the traditional substitution of milk and vinegar (1/2 cup milk with 1/2 tbsp milk). I also didn’t want to add yet another type of flour to my pantry so used rolled oats instead of oat flour.

Upon following the recipe I found the dough was very sticky and the scones lost their shape in the oven. To minimize the loss of shape, I suggest chilling the shaped dough on the baking sheet in the fridge for 20 minutes before popping them into the oven.

If you don’t want to make 12 all at once, these also freeze quite well—place shaped scones onto a baking sheet and freeze in a single layer; remove from sheet and wrap in plastic or a ziplock freezer bag.

scone broken apart showing juicy cranberries on a red rimmed china plate
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Whole Wheat Cranberry Apple Scones

A healthy take on scones with whole grains and fresh fruit, a great snack or addition to brunch.

Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 12 scones

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter chilled, cut into cubes (1 stick of butter)
  • 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
  • 1/2 cup diced fresh apple
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup half and half cream for glaze
  • 1/4 cup fresh apple cider
  • 1 egg (large)
  • coarse sugar crystals

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Prep work surface with plastic wrap to roll and shape dough onto.

  2. Combine first 8 ingredients in a large bowl, blend. Using a pastry cutter or 2 knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add cranberries and apples and toss together.

  3. Whisk 1/2 cup buttermilk, cider and egg in a small bowl to combine. Add buttermilk, tossing until evenly moistened. Knead 2–3 turns in the bowl, then turn out onto the prepared plastic wrap, shaping into two 6" disks. Cut each disc into 6 wedges. Arrange scones onto baking sheet, spacing 1" apart. Place baking sheet in fridge for 20 minutes.

  4. Remove baking sheet from fridge, brush with half and half, and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake until puffed and golden, and a tester inserted into the centre comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Serve warm. 

Filed Under: Breakfast Tagged With: apple, breakfast, brunch, cranberry, Healthy, oatmeal, scone, Whole wheat

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Welcome to my kitchen journal, a place where I will share my favourite heritage recipes honed over the years, as well as document new evolutions and experiments along the way. Great feasts become vehicles for fond memories—the best meals are the ones someone made with love, for you. Follow me to explore traditions, document stories and experience the joy of the feast. Read More…

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