MY HEALTHY HOMEMADE GRANOLA

 

One of my favorite things to have in the morning is a bowl of granola with some coconut or soy milk and some freshly cut fruits. It’s delicious and so good for you, packed with nutritious and healthy ingredients. The original recipe is from  The Skinnytaste Cookbook by Gina Homolka, which is one of my favorite cookbooks, as it has many recipes full of flavor but with low calories.  However, I changed it a little bit and adjusted it to my one taste.

This recipe is very easy to make and will take barely 30 minutes in total. The ingredients are quite simple and available in supermarkets, organic food stores and the internet. It has a few basic steps and the quantities mentioned can produce a good batch that it lasts about a month for me as I don’t like to have the same thing for breakfast everyday. So let’s get on with the recipe:

Ingredients

¼ cup quinoa

¼ cup shredded coconut

1 ½ cups rolled oats

¼ cup flaxseeds

¼ cup chia seeds

¼ cup sunflower seeds

¼ cup chopped brazilian nuts

¼ cup dried blueberries

¼ cup dried cranberries

2 tbsp honey

1 tsp agave syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1-2 tsp ground cinnamon

A pinch of salt

 

 

Preparation

1. Rinse the quinoa under cold water in a fine sieve and then pat it dry with a towel. Place a baking sheet in a tray and place the quinoa, shredded coconut and oats, all spread. Toast in a preheated oven, stirring once, for about 10 minutes. Oven temperature 325 F or 163 C.
2. In the meantime place the seeds of your choice, the dried fruits and the nuts in a large bowl and stir them together. Once the oat mixture is toasted, add it in the bowl and stir. Leave the oven on.
3. Pour the agave syrup, the cinnamon, salt, vanilla and honey in the bowl and give a good stir until everything is sticky enough and the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
4. Spread the bowl mixture in the same tray and put it back in the oven. Toast for 10-14 minutes, stirring once.
5. Once the mixture is golden brown, remove and let it cool completely before transferring it in an airtight jar. If it hasn’t cool off completely it might stick in the jar and then it will be hard to remove it. (speaking from experience!)

Simple as ABC, this recipe is just delicious! There are basically 3 groups of ingredients: the basic ones (oats, coconut and quinoa), the secondary (seeds, dried fruits and nuts) and the spice/flavor enhancing ones (vanilla, agave syrup, honey, salt and cinammon). It’s so easy to remember them all and you can switch the quantities and the ingredients as you please.

Granola  is a great way to introduce grains in your diet, which is important to anyone who wants to follow a healthier lifestyle and healthier way of eating. The great part of making your own granola is that you can have fun and improvise by adding whatever ingredients you like and you feel are closer to your own taste. No matter what you choose to add, this granola will be lower in calories than any store-bought as the author claims and that is a winner for me. If you happen to give it a go, I would love to see pictures of it on Instagram with the hashtag #myhealthygranola. Don’t forget to follow me on Bloglovin @crazyandfashionable. Comment down below and let me know what you think!

Till next time take care dolls 😉 xxx

Vicky