Breakfast of Champions

Happy Thursday morning!

Right after I had Madeleine, a friend brought us some homemade granola. It was absolutely delicious and inspired me to both go on a granola-eating kick and make my own. The recipe below is the one I've developed, loosely based upon this recipe.

First, mix the basic dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Then, add the spices and mix again. Add the wet ingredients (oil first!) and stir vigorously to get rid of the clumps. Then, prep one or two rimmed cookie trays with cooking spray and spread the whole mixture on it/them.

Put the tray into the preheated oven and bake, turning the granola every 8-10 minutes to evenly brown the batch. Once nicely brown, return the goodies to the mixing bowl to cool and add the delicious dried fruit.

Mix again. Transfer your granola to an airtight container, and you're set.

Here's the more usable recipe:

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup sliced almonds
2/3 cup sunflower seeds (without the shell)
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1 tsp ground ginger (optional)
3/4 Tbsp ground cinnamon
dash nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup honey
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup golden raisins

Heat oven to 325F (~160C). In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, and flaxseed. Once combined, add ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and mix well until there is a consistent color throughout. Add olive oil and mix well to cover entire batch evenly. Add honey, 1/3 of a cup at a time, being careful to not get honey directly on the spoon or bowl in order to minimize loss of ingredients. Once most or all clumps of honey are worked into the batch, spray cooking oil on one or two rimmed cookie trays and spread the mixture evenly. Bake for approximately 40 minutes, turning mixture every 8-10 minutes to promote even toasting. Once baking is complete, return mixture to bowl, allow to cool, add dried fruit, and mix well. Store in airtight container.


And there you have it - the key ingredient to the breakfast of champions (or at least this new mama): greek yogurt, fresh local berries, and homemade granola. Yum!