blissful eats with tina jeffers: Nuts and seeds granola

Life has been crazy busy lately.  Santa brought us a very special present this year, a new puppy.  It’s been 12 years since I’ve had a puppy in the house and I had forgotten how much time and energy they demand.  Her name is Abby and she has made life full of joy and full of stress all at the same time.  With the addition of potty training and morning walks breakfast has been even tougher than usual to get on the table.  She is full of enthusiasm and kisses and I need to keep my energy levels up to deal with her. 

Prepping a large batch of granola is an easy way to have a filling healthy breakfast ready to eat in a matter of minutes.   By using an egg white in the mixture you can cut down the amount of oil needed and still get the great crunch that you want from granola.  This is a super adaptable recipe and you can customize it to suit your taste.  Try swapping out the honey for maple syrup or agave.  Don’t have dried blueberries?  Use cranberries or cherries.  You can easily omit the millet or hemp seeds but they add great texture and nutrition.   How do you like your granola?  I’d love to hear what your favorite flavor combinations are!  For more recipes visit me at scaling back!

Nuts and seeds granola

Ingredients:

½ cup honey

¼ cup coconut oil

1 vanilla bean

2 tbsp packed light brown sugar

3 cups old fashioned oats

½ cup millet

¼ cup hemp seeds

¼ cup flax seeds

1 ½ cups coconut shavings

1 ½ tsp kosher salt

½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 egg white

1 ½ cups chopped nuts (I used walnuts and hazelnuts)

1 cup dried blueberries

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees

In a small saucepan heat the honey, coconut oil and brown sugar together until warm.  Scrape the vanilla bean into the pot and let cool slightly.

In a large bowl toss all the ingredients except for the blueberries together.  Lightly beat the egg white and add to the mixture along with the honey and coconut oil syrup.  Spread the mixture onto a rimmed baking sheet.

Bake granola, stirring every 10 minutes, until golden brown and dry, 40 – 45 minutes.  Let it cool on the baking sheet.  It will crisp up as it cools.  Mix in the blueberries and serve.