Sunshine Granola

Sunshine Granola

I love granola, but every time I buy a box I think to myself “I really need to just take 15 minutes to make my own!”  So last week, after picking up some yummy ingredients on my weekly shopping run, I put together a big batch full of sunny, summery ingredients.  Of course, when I got everything out I realized I had fewer oats than I thought I had.  I had a huge bag of quinoa and wondered if I could use it to bulk it out.  A quick google search confirmed that I was right!  Well, I’m glad that I was low on oats because quinoa is now my new favorite granola ingredient!  Full of protein, this is the perfect addition.  Last week my parents and I all had a bowl before going on a big family hike and we all commented on how we felt full all morning and into the early afternoon (our hike took longer than we thought and we ended up with a late picnic lunch!).

This granola is delicious on it’s own with your favorite non-dairy milk.  I like mine with rice milk.  If you’re feeling fancy, or have company for breakfast, this works wonderfully in a parfait.  I layered mine with my favorite vanilla soy yogurt and fresh juicy nectarine, with a little bit of coconut sprinkled on top…yum!

Feeling fancy!

Sunshine Granola

2 ½ cups old fashioned oats
1 cup quinoa (Important: rinse in strainer before using to remove bitterness.)
½ cup almonds chopped
½ cup dried coconut flakes (I like Bob’s Red Mill large flake coconut)
½ cup ground flax seeds
½ cup dried pineapple
½ cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
½ c maple syrup
¼ cup canola oil (melted coconut oil would be delicious, but sadly I was out of that too!)

Preheat oven to 300.  Add all dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix together.

Look at all of those yummy ingredients!

In a separate bowl whisk together maple syrup and oil.  Drizzle on top of dry ingredients and mix until well combined.

ready to go into the oven

Spread out onto large cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake in oven for 45-60 minutes…watch carefully to make sure it doesn’t get too dark.  The granola will still be slightly sticky when you take it out of the oven.  As it cools it will dry and get nice and crispy.  The hardest step of this entire recipe is waiting for it to cool without eating the entire batch!  Once it is completely cooled (this is important to keep it crispy), store in tightly sealed container.  It can be stored for a few weeks if you don’t devour it right away!  Enjoy!