Good evening!
I loved reading what foods you pack in your suitcase! I almost feel normal now. ;) Thank you dear and equally insane blog friends. I will forever be thankful. Because of you, I will hold my head up high in Paris drinking wheatgrass juice and stuffing packets of nut butter down my throat.
I have a delicious recipe to share with you tonight!
It was inspired by this morning’s comments when making this recipe. A few of you mentioned that you like to bring trail mix and granola when traveling and I thought that was a great idea to make some. :)
I decided to whip up some granola with the ingredients I had on hand. I have a granola recipe somewhere on my computer, but I decided to just wing it tonight.
I grabbed pretty much everything I had in the pantry:
- Oats
- Almonds
- Coconut
- Pumpkin Seeds
- Dried Cranberries
- Dried Apricots
- Cacao Nibs
- Sesame Seeds
- A sprinkle of love
- Chia seeds
- Sunflower Seeds
- Flax seeds
- A dash of hope
Awww yea! What a powerhouse of nutrients!
The best part about making granola is that you don’t have to use a recipe! Seriously, don’t be scared. Just follow your heart, use what you have on hand, and taste as you go. Your taste buds will not fail you.
Oh yes I did put chia seeds and cacao nibs up in there!
Eventually you will have the most delicious tasting snack in the world…
Power House Glonola
Ingredients:
- 1 cup raw almonds
- 1/2-3/4 tsp Himalayan sea salt
- 1/4 cup flax seed
- 1 tbsp chia seed
- 1/4 cup sesame seed
- 1/4 cup sunflower seed
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 1/4 cup pumpkin seed
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/3 cup dried apricots
- 2 & 1/4 cups oats
- 2 tbsp cacao nibs
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
Directions: Preheat oven to 400F. In a large bowl mix all ingredients except the dried cranberries, apricots, maple syrup, and coconut oil. In a medium sized bowl mix the maple syrup and coconut oil. Dump wet mixture onto dry and stir well. Scoop onto baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and stir oat mixture all around. Bake for another 10 minutes watching carefully during the last 5 minutes. When you remove from oven, carefully stir in the dried fruit. Makes 5 cups.
Yields twenty 1/4 cup servings.
Nutritional information (per 1/4 cup): 185 kcals, 13 grams fat (healthy fats!), 16 grams carbs, 4 grams fibre, 4 grams protein, 8 grams sugar.
Here’s what I did…but again, this recipe is open to interpretation! Experiment away. Go crazy. Evil witch cackle.
Stir your cauldron mixing all dry ingredients except the dried fruit (you will be mixing this in at the end)…
Now mix the maple syrup and coconut oil in a medium bowl:
And mix baby mix…and say aww yea baby just like Austin Powers.
This is when your taste buds will go to work for you. They will NOT fail you. If it tastes bad at this point you can still save yourself from granola disgrace. You can tailor it to how you want it. I don’t like my granola super sweet, so I find a wet ratio of 2:1 (maple syrup to oil) always works for me.
Spread out onto pan…
Bake for 10 minutes at 400F and then take out and mix all around and bake for another 10 minutes. Watch carefully. The maple syrup burns quickly.
Take deep, deep inhales. Fill your lungs with sweet power house granola. Awwwwwww.
It will be very hard not to eat any when it comes out of the oven. You might burn your tongue in all the excitement. Have an ice cube handy at all times.
Can’t wait for it to cool?
Pour almond milk over top. ;) Problem solved.
The granola was still warm and it got all soft, warm, and fuzzy and the milk got all sweet. Oh gosh, it was pure bliss.
Stay tuned tomorrow for a special breakfast creation. :)
What, to you, is the perfect granola? Have you ever made it? What do you like to put in it or eat it with?
Next time I might try carob powder or even grated dark chocolate. Or chopping a couple apples and baking the apples right into the granola. That would probably be delicious and very Fall-like too.
{ 78 comments… read them below or add one }
Haha..I was like what the heck is Glonola…having a blonde moment..sorry. I applaud you for making your own! I have yet to try doing it myself.
There is a granola that you can only find in the Midwest and it is soooo tasty and soft yet crunchy and makes the best baking base. I need to find it and horde it since it’s not in Cali ;)
This looks absolutely fantastic!
I love that adorable twig spoon — too cute!
Holy granola! That looks fabulous!
Oh yum – this looks amazing :) for me the crunchier the granola the better :)
Homemade granola is soo good – it is definitely not one of my specialties, but I will have to play around with it this winter!
I love a good crunchy nutty snacky granola.
I love that spoon of yours. So cute! And I love the idea of an everything but the kitchen sink type of granola. There’s lots of variety in every bite that way.
My ideal granola would be maple flavoured, with dried cranberries, almonds and white chocolate pieces. Yum :)
Oh, wow. Looks so good/healthy! It’s open to interpretation, but looks like you created an awesome combo! :)
This looks incredible! I’ve made granola a few times but always oil free. All I’m looking for is it to be crunchy, chunky, and tasty :) Preferably chocolate or peanut butter ;)
Made with “A sprinkle of love” – love it!
The best granola I’ve made had buckwheat and a bunch of pumpkin pie spice in it. I love crunch in my granola more than any other aspect, and I’m trying to make granola with as little added sugar as possible. So far I use some applesauce, orange juice and a little bit of honey or syrup and it seems to be working, but it’s still got some tweaking to do.
It goes really well with some yogurt or milk and fresh frozen fruit!
wow! could you please tell how do you add buckwheat into granola (eg is it buckwheat flour, groats or…?) My hubby doesn’t appreciate bukwheat and I would love to find a way to introduce it into our diet. Thank you.
I just put in raw buckwheat groats and bake them along with the oats and nuts. You can do this with millet or quinoa as well!
I love the thought of just mixing up your own unique combination. I have never made my own granola but do mix up my own trail mixes. I love saltier flavors with a hint of sweet.
I make granola all. the. time. It is the easiest bake good because you literally can’t screw it up! I definitely think oil makes a huge difference though–so much crunchier and crispier!
I think this post stole my heart. Sometimes with the amount of oats that I eat I believe that I am part horse. love love love granola and now “glonola” thanks angela!
I love homemade granola. Sesame seeds is definitely my favorite ingredient to put in it. I also like to use hope when winging a recipe :)
What a great idea! I’ve only made my own granola once, and it was a Mama Pea recipe, so of course it was absolutely amazing.
I can’t wait to read about your travels in Paris!
Currently, my favorite granola is the Mixed Berry flavor from Trader Joe’s. I also eat Nature’s Path stuff and have been meaning to try the famous Galaxy, but haven’t had the chance yet.
I have really wanted to try making my own, but I always convince myself that it’s hard and mine would not taste good. However, judging from your post, it doesn’t look that hard and it would probably taste fine. I’m just sort of a mediocre cook…I always get scared the first time I try something new. Then once I’ve done it, I smack myself in the forehead and go, “D’oh! That is easier than getting dressed and going to the store!”
Yumm! That looks so good. I love making granola because it is pretty much no fail- even when it doesn’t turn out amazing, it still tastes good. I don’t think there is such a thing as bad granola! I just throw in whatever seeds and nuts I have on hand, add some shredded coconut, some sweetener and oil and throw it in the oven. If I am feeling frisky I’ll throw in some peanut butter too!
HOLY HEALTHY-NESS!
I can almost smell it through the computer :)
Have a fun trip, I’m sure you’ll find plenty to eat there. I’m curious to see what kind of creative french concoctions you come up with!
By the way, do I have a display picture when I comment?? :S
That looks great!!
I’m a huge fan of putting granola on my plain or vanilla yogurt – for that nice texture!
This looks so delicious Angela. I love that you have so many measuring cups and spoons! I thought I had a ton of different ones!
I have never made my own granola, mostly because I didn’t know how, you make it look easy!
I LOVE making my own granola! It’s so easy and you can be so creative with it! It’s such a cheap and easy snack – you can easily make with ingredients you already have available in the kitchen and its especially great for traveling! You’re looks amazing!
oooh I did the same thing on our recent road trip / holiday. I took a big batch of granola with me and used it to top my oatmeal each morning :)
Yum! That looks divine!
This summer, I was going wild with carob/cacao powder in my granola- it made it seem all the more decadent. My favorite flavor spectrum, however, is to go with a coconut-ginger combo or cherry-ginger.
My goodness it burns doesn’t it! Last time I made some, my tongue hurt for days afterwards. My perfect granola would have to contain coconut, maple syrup & cinnamon :)
I just had store-bought granola for dinner! (was tired from work; bf wasn’t home so didn’t feel like cooking for one; and am slightly under the weather and granola is one of my comfort foods—why I feel I have to justify it I don’t know!!)
Anyways, I wish I’d seen this sooner! I’ll bet it was way tastier than what I had!
Anyone else eat granola for dinner sometimes? :)
I’ve made granola twice – it was just aiight. I’ve never managed to get those delicious CLUSTERS, a la Nature’s Path/profesh granola. But yours looks so good…I may be tempted to try again!
(Also caught that pinch of love…it’s a good thing when you find that lying around the house ;D)
izzyy
xox
http://content.markbittman.com/recipes/granola
I love Mark Bittman’s granola recipe. I make it in double batches in my big roasting pan, so it lasts for a little bit. And I even use it for holiday gift giving. It doesn’t “cluster”, but I am happy having a non-clustery granola.
Laura, this recipe contains coconut, maple syrup and cinnamon.
Wow! That looks incredible — I’ve never been totally inspired to make my own granola until now. Thanks for sharing! And have a spectacular time in Paris!!!
I’d have to say that right there looks like some pretty damn good granola! I tried making it once, but it was ages ago…I eat granola almost every day. I don’t know what I’m waiting for?!? Ohhh, maybe I was waiting for this recipe…that must be it. ;)
I am not picky when it come to granola…I love it all!
Especially if there is loads of cinnamon in it.
oh YUMMY!
You make some mighty delish granola, honey!
I try to make some at least 2-3 times a week. We are a granola eatin’ fam. I never use a recipe really, just go with the flow like YOU! Loved all your mixins.
Have fun on your trip! I didn’t know you were going to PARIS? I missed that somehow. Heavens, I need to get with the program! :D
Love you hon. Enjoy your evening, and morning of granola! mmm.
XOXO
Mmmm. I think I have to do some exploring at home and see what kind of granola I can make! ;D
I need to buy some of these ingredients, my granola would only have oats & sultanas!
Making my own granola is something I definitely want to try. I always feel like I don’t have enough ingredients for it though. I guess I need to make a trip to the bulk bin section. Yours looks so amazing.
I would definitely love to make my own granola sometime. However, I don’t feel as if I have enough of my favorite ingredients to make some. It would definitely be a good Sunday afternoon project.
That sounds AMAZING!
Granola is my absolute fave! I actually just came across a pre-made one @ WalMart (of all places, right?) that’s ridiculously perfect – all natural and the right blend of chewy and crunchy! The only thing missing is the cacao nibs you put in yours :/
Looks delicious and gorgeous all at at the same time. Your recipes lately are really knocking down my defenses against falling for fall…I was totally trying to hold on to summer!
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