Hearty Vegan Breakfast IV – Granola

October 1, 2015

In keeping with this week’s theme, Hearty Breakfasts, I would be amiss if I did not include our usual go to breakfast – Granola and almond milk. My recipe below is my spin off on a very good granola recipe from Oh She Glows Cookbook – Ultimate Nutty Granola Clusters. The recipe is also found on line here. Angela makes a great granola, the kind that forms nice clusters that are great as snacks and look great on yogurt or chia pudding; a company granola. My adaptation is more everyday granola. Nothing fancy. Lots of old fashioned oatmeal, nuts, dried fruit and cinnamon. Mine doesn’t form nice clusters but it does taste great.

I make my granola is a large roaster, the kind most people would use for roasting a large turkey. Happily, there are lots of uses for large roasters and mine gets lots of use for making large batches of granola, among other things. I double the recipe below to give us enough granola to last 2 weeks.

Unlike store bought granola, this recipe does not have a lot of fat or sugar and has loads of nuts and seeds so it will give a nice protein boost to your morning. We generally have it with almond milk but it is also great with coconut milk yogurt.

 

Granola

• 1 cup raw almonds
• 1/2 cup raw walnuts
• 1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats (gluten free is required)
• 1/2 cup raw buckwheat groats
• 1 cup dried fruit (I usually use a mix of cranberry and raisons)
• 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup peanuts, chopped or whole
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 2 tsp vanilla

Place almonds and walnuts in a food processor and blend until they are mostly small pieces.

Combine all ingredients except cinnamon, maple syrup, coconut oil and vanilla in a large pan (I use a turkey roaster). In a blender, add cinnamon, maple syrup, coconut oil and vanilla and blend until smooth. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix well.

Bake at 275F for 20 minutes then stir ingredients. Bake for another 20 minutes and stir again. Bake for another 20 minutes then remove from oven. Let cool completely then store in sealed glass jars.

Feel free to mix up the fruit and nut combinations to suit your liking.