Today I’m sharing yet another delicious recipe that didn’t make it into the cookbook because of space, but lucky for you, you get this one early! Buckwheat groats are a fantastic alternative to crunchy refined carbohydrate loaded cold cereals most of us are used to from grocery stores. Buckwheat is one of the most underused gluten free grains, or whole grains for that matter, even though it’s high in fiber, protein, and minerals such as magnesium, calcium, iron, manganese, and copper. Combine crunchy dehydrated buckwheat groats with cinnamon and sunflower seeds and you have cereal 2.0.
Cinnamon is one of the most well known spices, and yet most of us don’t use it as strategically as we could! Cinnamon is great to be used with carbohydrate rich meals for several reasons. First, it just tastes good! Cinnamon is often paired with carbohydrates like grains or fruit which the flavor of cinnamon complements incredibly. Also, ground cinnamon is a potent blood sugar stabilizer meaning that it has compounds that slow down the rate at which our stomach empties food and therefore help decrease the rise in blood sugar. It also stimulates insulin receptors thus enhancing insulin signaling. This ancient spice also has anti-clotting and anti-microbial properties and is very high in antioxidants. The benefits of cinnamon go well beyond it’s taste, so consider adding more to your diet with recipes like this one!
Try this recipe with homemade almond milk, vanilla cashew milk, or strawberry brazil nut milk, which are all equally delicious. I love serving this with fresh fruit from the season, so right now I’m loving any kind of berry I can get my hand on (even the mulberries!). Learn about the featured whole food ingredients and their health benefits and nutrition information in the NS Pantry: buckwheat, sunflower seeds, coconut oil, maple syrup, and cinnamon.
- 2 cups raw buckwheat groats, [url href=”https://nutritionstripped.com/guide-to-soaking-and-sprouting/”]soaked and sprouted[/url]
- ½ cup sunflower seeds
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Soak and sprout your buckwheat following this [url href=”https://nutritionstripped.com/guide-to-soaking-and-sprouting/”]guide[/url].
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon and sea salt. Pour over the sprouted buckwheat, using your hands gently massage the wet mixture into the buckwheat. Spread evenly on a lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, stir, and continue baking for an additional 20 minutes or until golden brown. Take out of the oven and let cool for at least 20 minutes. Store in an airtight container in a dry place for up to 1 month.
Photography: Katie Newburn
