onze.

coconut vanilla granola

Sometimes, in the midst of of a Netflix (Gossip Girl) watching, job application doing, nail painting session, you just crave some granola. Is that just me? I seriously hope not. To me, nothing is better than lazy Sunday mornings curled up on the couch, a great show on TV, bowl of yogurt and homemade granola at hand. Sound like a crazy idea? Just wait until you try this granola..I think you will understand my outlandish sounding morning a little bit better once you do.

So in my opinion, granola is one of the easiest and most satisfying snacks to make. You can literally put in anything you want or have and it will most likely turn out tasting pretty darn delicious. I was reading a couple of different recipes but when I went into the kitchen to start whipping it up, I realized I didn't have half of the ingredients. Instead, I used a recipe as a guideline and subbed in what I had for the ingredients I was missing. It turned into a coconut-vanilla-sunflower-oat-cinnamon mash up that was spectacular!

Basically, all I did for this recipe was throw all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix it up before baking!  What I love about this granola in particular is the use of coconut oil. This is one of my latest obsessions. It is SO good for you, way better than butter. It is an excellent source of energy and has a billion different uses (just search Pinterest). The coconut oil and the maple syrup, I used natural, are the glue to this granola. It binds everything together to form the yummy clumps. 

Once I figured out which ingredients I had and wanted to use, I got to work. Like I said earlier, this recipe is super easy. It's basically just pour, stir, bake. 

I used oats...

Coconut flakes...

Cinnamon and maple syrup...

Sunflower seeds, a bit of brown sugar and ta-da!!

Once I combined all of the ingredients together, I spread it out onto a cookie sheet to bake. The mixture should be sticky enough so that all of the ingredients stick together. 

I baked my granola for about 30 minutes in a 300 degree oven. The time really depends, I would just keep an eye on it until it looks the way you want. My other tip would be to stir the granola every so often so it is cooking evenly. 

Once the granola cools, you are good to go! I poured mine into little mason jars which made it easy to pour some out each time someone wanted to have some (which was quite often). My family gives this recipe a double thumbs up, I would have to agree.

Granola makes for a delicious breakfast or snack. Use it on its own, as cereal, on top of smoothies, or in yogurt. The possibilities really are endless for this one. I hope you guys enjoy!!

Here is the basic recipe I used. I then just tweaked whatever I needed to to fit what ingredients I had. 

ingredients:

2 cups old-fashioned oats
3/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/3 cup pepitas
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon coconut extract

directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with a Slipat or parchment paper. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine oats, coconut, almonds, pepitas, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla, and coconut extract. Pour liquid mixture over dry ingredients. Stir until dry ingredients are well-coated.

3. Pour the granola mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Spread granola into an even layer. Bake for 30 minutes or until granola is golden brown, stirring every 10 minutes. Let granola cool completely. Store in an air-tight container for up to 1 month.

-ali