Who doesn’t love granola? It takes about 10 minutes to prepare, 25 minutes in the oven and voila! Store it in a large mason jar and you’ve got a perfectly crunchy, peanut buttery, protein packed granola that you can eat for breakfast with almond milk, sprinkle on coconut yogurt, top smoothie bowls with or just eat on its own! I love to make granola for my family and I when we travel because it is a healthy, filling snack to eat on the go!
Let’s talk ingredients.
This recipe only requires 10 ingredients, most of which you might have in your pantry already! Oats, which are naturally gluten free, bursting with vitamins and minerals, help regulate blood sugar, aid in lowering cholesterol...the list goes on and on! Peanut butter packs this granola with protein to make your tummy feel satisfied. Pumpkin seeds are a great source of zinc for immune support and magnesium for a healthy heart. Flax seeds and chia seeds are wonderfully loaded with plant derived omega 3 fats, and finally coconut oil which we all know solves 99% of our problems. But really, just to name a few it reduces inflammation, can boost your immune system because it contains lauric acid and improves brain function and digestion. Phew, that was a lot of information but that just goes to show how magical this granola is!
Before we get into the recipe, let’s quickly talk about clumps...er, clusters. Is that better?
I don’t know about you but crunching into a cluster of granola is far more satisfying than when it is all loose and crumbly. So here are three tips to ensuring your clusters every time.
Make sure your wet ingredients evenly and thoroughly coat your dry ingredients when mixing.
Do not stir the granola as it bakes.
Let it cool COMPLETELY (about 1.5 hours) before you break it apart. Voila!
INGREDIENTS:
- Oats
- Pumpkin seeds
- Flax seeds
- Chia seeds
- 3 Tbsp cane sugar
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ¼ cup peanut butter
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla
THE PROCESS:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add oats, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, cane sugar and sea salt to a bowl and mix.
- Add coconut oil, peanut butter and maple syrup to a small saucepan on medium heat. Stir frequently until the mixture is smooth and completely mixed together, no oil separation.
- Pour wet mixture over dry ingredients and stir until all the dry ingredients are evenly coated.
- Pour this onto your parchment lined baking sheet and spread evenly out.
- Put in preheated oven for 20 minutes. After 20 mins, turn pan around and bake for another 5-6 minutes until granola is a light toasty brown.
- Remove from oven and let it cool completely! (about 1.5 hours) before you break it apart this is how you get the big clusters! Enjoy with coconut yogurt, almond milk and frozen berries!
