Maple cinnamon chia bowl {persimmon + pomegranate}

Maple cinnamon chia bowl – soft chia pudding, juicy persimmon and pomegranate, crunchy nuts – festive looking, and nutritious, this is the perfect seasonal breakfast.

Hello, and a good Monday morning to you!

I hope you all had a fabulous and relaxing weekend, and are really getting into the holiday spirit!

I know, the relaxing part is wishful thinking for me, but this weekend I managed to sneak in some peaceful moments. We bought, and decorated the Christmas tree, we made cute little reindeer cookies with my little daughter (she made them all by herself, and I was mostly on standby), and we watched Christmas Story, while sipping white hot chocolate from huge, red, Christmas cups.
None of the Christmas shopping got done…but hey, there’s another weekend coming.

Plus, there is always Amazon Prime which really saves the day, for all of us procrastinating shoppers.

I wanted to start this week by sharing a light, nourishing breakfast that looks festive, tastes amazing, and combines two of the prettiest, yummiest seasonal fruits – persimmons and pomegranates. I have quite an obsession with persimmons around this time of the year. I buy tons of them, and snack on them non-stop. My kids, however, mostly crave pomegranates.  So at any time this season, you can find bowls of persimmons and pomegranates sitting on my counter. The two of them, combined with fresh mint, and grapes make a great winter fruit salad, but I decided to sneak them into breakfast as well, and made this creamy maple cinnamon chia bowl.

This is a fancy looking breakfast that may be suitable for a holiday treat too. To me, persimmons taste almost like caramel with a hint of cinnamon, so I decided to pair them with maple syrup which has a natural caramelly flavor, and spicy cinnamon to further complement that. I used coconut milk for a healthier milk alternative, but feel free to use your milk of choice. The coconut milk with its healthy fatty content also makes for a creamier pudding.

I usually prepare the chia pudding in the evening, and leave it in the fridge overnight to set. In the morning, you just need to chop some fruit and layer the bowls. If you are pressed for time, or want to serve this as a dessert, you can leave it in the fridge for as little as 1 hour.  The chia seeds will plump up, absorbing some of the liquid, and will turn it magically into a pudding-like texture.

Pomegranate seeds can also be removed the day before and kept in the fridge. I like to use this method for removing the pomegranate seeds, but I recently learned a new trick – you cut the pomegranate in half, turn it over a bowl, and start knocking on it with a wooden spoon. The seeds come right out into the bowl, without getting bruised!! You can watch a great demonstration of this trick here. I can’t say for sure which of the two methods is faster, but this one seems a little bit cleaner.

As for the nut brittle, it can be done with whatever nuts you have on hand.  Somehow I thought that almonds will go best here.

At every bite you get a mouthful of crunchy pomegranate seeds and nuts, and a smooth maple cinnamon scented chia pudding.  Enjoy!

Here are two more fruity breakfast bowls that feel and taste like dessert, yet they are healthy and not so sweet:
Coconut lime chia pudding
Chocolate cranberry breakfast parfait

5 from 1 vote

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Maple cinnamon chia bowl with persimon and pomegranate

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

1 hr

Total Time

1 hr 10 mins

 

Maple cinnamon chia bowl - soft chia pudding, juicy persimmon and pomegranate, crunchy nuts - festive looking, and nutritious, this is the perfect seasonal breakfast.

Course: Breakfast / Dessert

Servings: 4

Calories: 321 kcal

Author: Viktoria

Ingredients

• 1 can (400 ml) light coconut milk
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 2 Tbs maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 Tbs chia seeds
• 1 pomegranate
• 2 persimons

For the nut brittle:

• 1/4 cup slivered almonds
• 2 Tbs sugar
• 1/2 Tbs coconut oil
• pinch of salt

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, mix the coconut milk with the maple syrup, vanilla extract, and cinnamon until blended well.
2. Add the chia seeds, mix and leave in the fridge for at least an hour, preferably overnight.
3. When ready to serve, peel and chop the persimmon into small dice.
4. Remove the pomegranate seeds - see how here.
5. In a dry pan, heat the 2 Tbs of sugar until it begins to caramelize, add the coconut oil, a pinch of salt, and the slivered almonds. Give it a quick stir, remove from heat, and transfer to a parchment paper to cool down.
6. Assemble the bowls by alternating layers of fruit and chia pudding, with the caramelized nut brittle in between. finish with fruit and top with more nuts.
7. Serve chilled.