Hello, hello!

For my first official post, I’m going to share with you one of my favorite foods to make from home – homemade granola!

I LOVE making granola at home for a lot of reasons: it makes my apartment smell amazing, I can pig out on yummy, crunchy granola fresh out of the oven, and I can control exactly what goes into this tasty little treat. Eric loves when I make it too – a batch can barely stick around for more than a day before it’s been gobbled up. But, that’s ok – I’d rather we indulge on un-artificially sweetened yumminess than who-knows-what that you buy at the grocery store.

Anyway, here is a great recipe that I’ve developed and seriously fallen in love with. I hope you do too…

Homemade Crunchy Granola

LOOK AT THAT CLUSTER!! *drool*

Oooo Ahhh – look at that yummy texture! Obviously, I added raisins to my batch. What would you add?

Ingredients
4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)
1 cup walnuts (chopped)
1 cup almonds (chopped)
1 cup mixed seeds (sunflower & pepitas work well)
2 eggs whites (this helps the clusters form)
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients with 1 tablespoon oil and spices. Now drizzle honey or syrup into dry ingredients and mix well. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk egg whites & vanilla until frothy and then mix well into dry ingredients. Pour into a nonstick pan and bake for 30 mins or until granola begins to turn golden around the edges. Using a spatula, gently pull edges toward center of pan and then press back down. It’s important not to “stir” the granola. By gently pushing it around instead, you’re improving your chances of getting nice, big clusters at the end. Bake for an additional 25 minutes or until you can see the top of the pan getting a nice, golden color. At this point, I like to nab a little sample, blow on it to cool, and then test how dried and crispy it’s getting. If it’s not to your liking, simply pop it back in the oven and monitor until your granola is exactly how you like it. Once you’ve achieved granola-perfection, remove from the oven, sprinkle with any dried fruits you’d like, and allow to cool completely. During the cooling process is when the clusters really form and the crunchy magic happens. Do not stir until the granola is cooled. Enjoy!

** This recipe is naturally gluten-free. If you have Celiac’s, you would probably know to just use gluten-free oats, anyway. :)  **