Recipe: Quinoa, Apricot, and Nut Clusters

For this week's Martha Monday's Lyndsey over at The Tiny Skillet selected these Quinoa, Apricot, and Nut Clusters from Martha Stewart.  I liked these as they're crunchy and chewy with lots of cardamom flavour as I added a teaspoon of it.  Without the added spice, I think these would be very bland.  Our daughter had one for breakfast and said "I can't taste anything, just crunch".  As with many of Martha's recipes there are lots of steps to this one, but I did skip many of them :)

This was very expensive to make.  I've never purchased quinoa so maybe it's always this expensive?  Just these 3 ingredients alone were almost $20.00 and I had the rest of what was needed at home, thank goodness. 

If my husband likes these, then I'll make them again as they are so healthful.  Otherwise, they were too pricey and complicated.

QUINOA, APRICOT, AND NUT CLUSTERS
From Martha Stewart Living, October 2004


3/4 cup white quinoa (I used whole grain)
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup shelled raw sunflower seeds (mine were already roasted)
1/2 cup shelled raw pistachios, chopped (mine were already roasted)
1 cup dried apricots, thinly sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 cup honey
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs plus 1 large egg white, lightly beaten
Vegetable-oil cooking spray (I skipped this)
1 teaspoon cardamom (I added this to the recipe)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse quinoa thoroughly in a fine sieve; drain. Bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add quinoa; return to a boil. Stir quinoa; cover, and reduce heat. Simmer until most liquid is absorbed and quinoa is slightly undercooked, about 12 minutes; transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. Bake, fluffing with a fork occasionally, until pale golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool in a large bowl.

Spread oats on baking sheet; bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Add oats to quinoa. Spread seeds on baking sheet; bake until lightly toasted, about 7 minutes (I skipped this step). Add to quinoa mixture; let cool. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.

Toss nuts, apricots, sugar, and salt with quinoa mixture. Beat honey, oil, and vanilla into eggs; stir into quinoa mixture.

Line a 12-by-17-inch baking sheet with parchment; lightly coat with cooking spray. Spoon 1/4 cup batter onto sheet for each cluster; space 3 inches apart. Flatten to 1/4 inch thick. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until crisp, about 25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Store, loosely covered with foil, up to 2 days.

Makes 20

Printable Copy

Enjoy!

from "The Cratchits Christmas Dinner"
by Charles Dickens
Illustrated by Matilda Breuer
1953, Spenser Press