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Roasted Apricot Whole Wheat Farina

By Brandy

May 11, 2016, Updated Mar 05, 2017

This roasted apricot whole wheat farina is the perfect way to start the day! Sweet roasted apricots on top of whole wheat farina and a sprinkling of pistachios. Say goodbye to boring breakfast! 

This post is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill. As always all opinions and thoughts are 100% my own. 

Growing up I was a HUGE cream of wheat fan. I remember my mom would serve it hot and it came with these fun little “flavor packets” that I would squeeze and some sort of artificial fruit flavored goo would come out. Yeah, 8-year-old Brandy thought that was the absolute best. 34-year-old Brandy is sitting here thinking “what in the hell was 8-year-old Brandy eating?”

This breakfast dish is the elevated dish of my childhood. It’s got all that creamy cereal goodness but with a few minor changes. This time around I roasted off fresh fruit (no weird fruit goo packets!) and used whole wheat farina instead of the usual cream of wheat. 

Since it’s apricot season I decided apricots were 100% the way to go. I think the beauty of this recipe is that you can use and roast just about any fruit you love – strawberries, blueberries, peaches or even apples! The addition of thyme just makes the apricots a little fancier. PLUS I’m a HUGE fan of thyme because I think it’s downright delicious.

A few years ago I grew my own thyme and I used it in errrrrything. It showed up in my breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and even my cocktails!

Now, back to this delicious breakfast dish. Because I used Bob’s Red Mill whole wheat farina you get more a “nutty” taste and feel to this farina. It’s technically not as creamy as typical white wheat farina but I really like the added texture. Like I said, I really feel as though this dish is the grown-up version of my childhood breakfast.

Oh and I forgot to mention the best part about this roasted apricot whole wheat farina – it’s ready in JUST 30 minutes! Plus because it’s whole wheat it’s a good source of iron and fiber!

{Looking for more delicious breakfast dishes? Try my baked blueberry oatmeal, cheesy polenta sausage breakfast bowl, cranberry apple yogurt parfait, breakfast stuffed mushrooms or my spinach artichoke egg roulade.}

Roasted Apricot Cream of Wheat

This roasted apricot whole wheat farina is the perfect way to start the day! Sweet roasted apricots on top of whole wheat farina and a sprinkling of pistachios. Say goodbye to boring breakfast!

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

For apricots: 

• 6 ripe apricots
• 2 teaspoon dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of sea salt
• 3-4 sprigs of thyme, leaves removed

For cream of wheat:

• 3 cups water
• 1 cup whole wheat farina
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

For topping:

• Chopped pistachios
• Dark brown sugar, optional
• Maple syrup, optional
• Honey, optional

Directions:

For apricots:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl add apricots, dark brown sugar, honey, vanilla bean paste, cinnamon and sea salt and stir to evenly coat.

Pour out onto the parchment and bake for about 15-20 minutes just until soft but still holding their shape. You want them to be soft but not mushy.

Add thyme leaves and gently stir to combine.

For cream of wheat:
In a small saucepot add 3 cups of water and place over high heat. Once the water starts boiling add in the farina.

Turn down the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. At this point the farina should be thick and delicious. If it's still too watery just let it cook a bit longer.

Remove from the heat and stir in dark brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom.

For serving:
Split the farina between 4 bowls and top with equal parts roasted apricots and pistachios. Top with additional dark brown sugar, maple syrup and honey if desired.