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Breakfast Wheat Berries

5.0(225)

Wheat berries sweetened with honey and perfumed with rose water and spices make a delicious breakfast on their own or stirred into yogurt (that’s the way I prefer to serve this). Whether you use farro, kamut, spelt or wheat berries (and whether you are cooking them for breakfast or for dinner) the trick here is to cook the grains for as long as it takes for them to really soften and to splay (that is, to burst at one end).

by Martha Rose Shulman·published 2014-03-14

Open original recipe

Breakfast, Brunch, Quick, Main Course

Servings

(4–6)

Total time

1h 30m

Calories / serving

268 kcal

Ingredients (12)

serves

1 cup wheat berrieswheat-berries
5 cups waterwater
Salt to tastesalt
1/4 cup honey, agave syrup or brown sugar, or more to tastehoney
1/2 to 1 teaspoon rose water, to tastewater
1 teaspoon ground anise or fennel seeds
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamoncinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmegnutmeg
1/2 cup raisins or other chopped dried fruit of choice
1/3 cup chopped walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, or a mixture for garnishwalnut
2 cups plain low-fat yogurt (optional)
Pomegranate seeds for garnish (optional)pomegranate

Instructions (3 steps)

01The night before, combine wheat berries, 1 quart of the water and salt and bring to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 hour. Remove from heat, stir in the honey, agave syrup or sugar, rose water, anise or fennel seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg and raisins or dried fruit. Cover and leave overnight (or for 5 to 6 hours).
02In the morning, add remaining cup of water to the wheat berries and bring to a simmer. Cook 30 to 45 minutes, stirring often, until berries are soft and splayed at one end. There should be some liquid surrounding the wheat berries (add more water if necessary). Taste and add more sweetener if desired.