When I feel stressed or overwhelmed, I make granola. When I want to give someone something that comes from my heart, I make them granola. Over the last couple of years, I have found a base recipe that is fail-proof: it has options to accommodate the ever-changing tastes and dietary needs of individuals, tastes good no matter what the season, has stood the test of time (almost five years), and I always have the ingredients handy.
Think of this recipe like the base sequence of a yoga practice: simple, available for all, and can be enhanced to your liking or needs. The secret(s):
- Bake it slowly at a medium temperature, then turn the oven off and let it slowly cool with the oven – almost all day. This gives it chunk and crunch.
- Egg whites also add crunch and chunkiness. A great (and vegan) alternative is garbanzo-bean water!
- Trick your sweet tooth by generously adding flavors that enhance the maple syrup: cinnamon, cloves, ginger, pumpkin-spice mix, vanilla, and almond extract.
Ingredients
4 cups oats (regular or gluten-free)
1 tbsp flax meal
~⅓ cup pumpkin seeds
~1-2 tsp cinnamon
~½ tsp cloves
~¼ tsp ginger
~¼ cup egg whites (or garbanzo bean water)
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
- Line a large baking pan (preferably shallow w/ sides) with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine and stir oats, flax meal, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger.
- Using a measuring cup, measure, stir, and add vegetable oil, maple syrup, egg whites, and vanilla extract to dry mixture.
- Combine, and stir/press around in the bowl for full incorporation.
- Pour into the baking pan and spread/press down to cover the whole baking pan (the granola will be about ¼ inch in thickness).
- Grind Himalayan salt on top of the granola.
- Bake for 30 minutes, then stir, mix, and break up the large clumps. Return to the oven for another 30 minutes.
- Turn off the oven. Leave granola to cool with the oven.
- Taste, jar, and enjoy for the week!
Optional
Depending on your liking, dietary restrictions, and the time of year, you might consider adding in:
- chopped nuts
- unsweetened shredded coconut
- dried fruit
- other seeds (i.e. sunflower)
- flax meal or flax seeds
- ½ can pumpkin or ¼ cup full-fat coconut milk
