Homemade Granola For The Win

It took my a while to realize that I really should be eating breakfast every day. It's just plain good for you, not to mention tasty. In college this realization came in a less-than-healthy package of croissant with a large glass of OJ. While delicious, this was way too sugary and fattening for one single meal. At least for me anyway.

For a while I was eating yogurt and fresh fruit (sometimes together, sometimes apart) and the occasional bowl of cereal.

But when you can't have wheat and you can't have corn cereal gets really boring really fast. There are about five rice cereal options that I actually like and that don't contain corn. But when everything you eat tastes like rice, it starts to be less than appetizing. I began to long for flavor.

I wanted museli or granola. Something with texture and crunch. Something that didn't taste like more white rice in a different shape. Of course since most true celiacs can't have oats (whether this be from oat sensativity or bad manufacturing practices) cereal makers don't even try to make granola or museli gluten free. What's more, granola often contains other things I can't eat. Such as corn syrup or other corn stuffs, for example. Or, the worst offense, the granola is overly hard and bland. Bland is not what I am looking for.

Needless to say, when I opened my copy of Skinny Bitch in the Kitch I was delighted to find a recipe for granola. It had never occurred to me before that it might just be easier to make my own. And it was.

The best part of this homemade creation is that I can control what goes in and in what proportion. The recipe itself is more of a guideline to make sure everything turns out. But all said and done there are endless possibilities for what you can put into the granola from coconut to dried fruit, nuts and seeds. If you can't have oats, just substitute something else. I personally am a big fan of quinoa flakes. And if you don't want to use flakes of any kind, just use things like pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds. There are endless healthy options to help you customize your morning crunch.

Homemade Granola

Approx 6 Cups of Granola

2 Cups Rolled Oats
1 1/4 Cup Sliced Almonds
3/4 Cup Coconut Flakes (unsweetened)
1/4 Cup Pumpkin Seeds
1 Cup Chopped Dried Apricot
1 Cup Chopped Sugared Dates (my treat to myself)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tbl brown rice syrup
2 tbl safflower oil (also grease the baking sheet with this when it's time)

Preheat the oven to 300 F

Arrange oats evenly on large baking sheet with a lip around the edge (jelly roll pans work nicely). Toast them in the oven lightly, stiring the oats every five minutes for 15 minutes.

While the oats are toasting mix the almonds, coconut, salt and dried fruit in a large bowl (I threw in the extra crasins from the pantry just to finish off the package).

In a small bowl combine the maple syrup, rice syrup and safflower oil.

Stir the toasted oats into the large bowl. Then add syrup mixture until consistency is sticky and all the pieces are loosely clumping. If you need more "sticky" factor, add a little more of the maple syrup and brown rice syrup. You want the mixture to just bind loosely - not quite as sticky as a rice krispy treat for example.

Grease the baking sheet and then spread the mixture on the sheet evenly. Put in the oven for 15 minutes, taking out to stir the mixture with a spatula. Then return the sheet to the oven for another 10 minutes.

When finished, place the baking sheet on a wire rack until completely cool to the touch. Break granola apart into chunks and put into a storage container.

It's delicious!