This breakfast casserole highlights the simplicity of basic ingredients. Definitely opt for a good quality maple syrup (dark preferred) and baking apples–my favourite are Mutsu.
Maple-Apple Buckwheat Breakfast Casserole
2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Creamy Buckwheat (a pantry favourite–does it a devoted post?)
1 1/2 cups raisins
2 sweet tart apples, chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup pure maple syrup, plus more for serving (I like the dark stuff)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, plus a bit more
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon fine sea or Himalayan salt
2 cups unsweetened plain or vanilla nondairy milk (such as So Delicious or Almond Breeze)
1/2 cup toasted pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped
Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
In a 8-cup capacity casserole dish (an 8-inch square glass one will work great), layer a third of the buckwheat. Top with half of the raisins, half of the apples, and another 1/3 of the buckwheat. Follow with the rest of the apples, the maple syrup, then half of the cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. You can eyeball these amounts. It doesn’t have to be half exactly.
Pour half of the nondairy milk over the layers. Add the rest of the raisins, buckwheat, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Top with pecans, and sprinkle with additional cinnamon. Top with the remaining nondairy milk.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the apples are tender. Let cool to room temperature, and serve with additional maple syrup.
