MAPLE NUT GRANOLA
Served at my retreats!
Even though “crunchy granola” has come to signify a somewhat derogatory style of dress/decorating/cooking, this granola is crunchy and delicious and in my opinion perfectly stylish! After searching the supermarket aisles for a suitable gluten-free cereal accent for my granola in the morning, I decided to make my own. No sugar, no wheat, and lots of great toasted nuts. As any good recipe it is not exact, all about the texture and feel of it. I like lots of nuts and no fruit in my granola, but if you keep the basic proportions, feel free to improvise.
3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup real maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole almonds
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup pumpkin or sunflower seeds
1/2 cup hemp seeds
Also can add: pecans, cashews, coconut flakes (optional)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat the maple syrup and oil in saucepan and blend thoroughly and add vanilla extract. Combine oats, nuts, seeds in a large bowl and pour the maple syrup mixture over the oat/nut mixture. Toss and blend well. Spread the mixture out on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. It needs to be one layer, about 1-2 inches thick to toast evenly. Bake for about an 45 minutes or until it turns golden brown and smells sweet. You can turn off oven and leave it in until oven cools if you want to be sure it cooks thoroughly. I like it when it sticks together in large clumps and crumbles easily into smaller bits. Cool thoroughly on the sheet and then transfer to an airtight storage container where it will keep for weeks