When food cravings hit, they can be intense. Like, really intense. I recently woke up craving granola. The sweet, crunchy, cinnamony goodness. Since it was about 472 degrees below zero last week, I found myself in quite the quandary – craving granola, no granola on hand, life-threatening [drama, drama] temperatures outside. My life is so incredibly complicated.

When complex life issues arise, I turn to my recipe arsenal. As you may recall, my breakfast-hating husband has a staunch aversion to the morning meal. Like the Magic Bars, this granola recipe has been known to win the hearts and minds of breakfast haters around the world. My husband is no exception.

This recipe is fantastic. It’s simple, flexible and incredibly scrumptious. I have sensitive teeth, so storebought granola (not to mention being laden with all sorts of sugars and preservatives) tends to be too hard for my delicate little darlings. The coconut oil in this recipe creates the perfect tender texture.

Feel free to use whatever nuts you have on hand (minds out of gutter, people), toss in some dried fruit, and mix up the spices to suite your tastes.

Homemade Granola

Time: 1.5 hours   Servings: 3 lbs.

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups rolled oats (use old fashioned, NOT quick oats)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup chopped almonds
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/3 cup ground flax seeds
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons grassfed butter
• 3 tablespoons raw, virgin coconut oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:

• Preheat over to 250 degrees. Line large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Mix oats, seeds, nuts, coconut, salt and spices together in large mixing bowl (using a KitchenAid makes this a breeze).
• Mix butter, coconut oil, honey and maple syrup in small saucepan – heat until butter and coconut oil melt. Add vanilla extract.
• Poor hot liquid over dry ingredients. Stir until combined well.
• Spread granola onto baking sheet into one even layer.
• Cook for 70 minutes.
• Remove from oven, and allow to cook completely before breaking into chunks (or cutting into bars). Granola will harden as it cools.
• Toss delectable, crunchy, preservative/sugar-free granola with yogurt, ice cream or in some raw milk and enjoy!

This tasty treat typically keeps for about 2 weeks at room temp, or longer in the frig/freezer, but I seriously doubt it’ll evade consumption for that long.

Love,