Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Guilt-free granola that will knock your socks (and boots) off!

I've always been super picky about granola. I'm not sure why. I've never really fallen in love with it. And it seems like the only granola I actually LOVED was when I was on vacation somewhere or at a restaurant where they refused to give me their "secret recipe." Understandable, I guess ;)

In my experience, the majority of granola is either jam-packed with crazy sugar additives, is super high in cals or just tastes like cardboard. So...I was lucky enough to steal this recipe from my sister Heather who is famous for coming up with the most creative and healthy (but still mouth watering) recipes! This homemade granola is nutritious, tasty and will leave you wanting more and more. Trust me.


Preheat oven to 325
2 cups of old fashioned oats
1/2 cup nuts- I used cashews since I LOVE them and that's what I already had at home
1/4 cup seeds (I used pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds)
1/4 cup dried fruit (optional but I used goji berries)
2-3 tbsp of honey or maple syrup or both
2 tbsp. coconut oil- if its solid because of the temperature in the room don't worry it will melt when you combine everything together
1/4 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes 
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt


*Combine everything in a big bowl with your hands and make sure to really incorporate the coconut oil if its not liquid just so there aren't any huge chunks!



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Put on a baking sheet in a thin layer and bake 10 minutes then pull out, stir it up and flip what you can with a spatula and put it back in for another 5 minutes to cook it evenly. You want it lightly golden but not too brown or it will taste a little burned and we don't want that!


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And here she is...beautiful bowl of granola made with love. Add this to some plain Greek yogurt with some blueberries and you are set for heaven :) Enjoy!!


-Kate









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