Super Healthy Granola includes nuts, seeds, coconut, dried fruit, old fashioned rolled oats and more. It is naturally sweetened with molasses and maple syrup.
When I was expecting my first child, my mom gave me a Martha Stewart Baby magazine. It was lovely and full of perfect pictures of nurseries and all sorts of ideas of how to have a very tidy, organized house with a newborn. What ended up catching my eye in the magazine were the recipes, and in particular a recipe for granola.
I loved the idea of homemade granola so started making it weekly and it ended up becoming a regular snack that fueled me through a very hungry pregnancy.
I used to mix it up in a huge bowl from an old pitcher and basin set and when my son was only a couple of months old my dad took a picture of him tucked in the granola bowl. At the time, dad had no idea that granola was a pregnancy staple, but he did recognize that the bowl, with its gently sloping sides and permanent place on the counter, was a perfect perch for the son of someone who loves to cook.
There are endless variations to this recipe (we have tried many). Try orange or apple juice in place of the water, substitute pumpkin or sesame seeds for some of the sunflower seeds. Instead of walnuts try almonds or cashews.
Super Healthy Granola is not super sweet like the store bought kind. If you’d like it sweeter you can up the sweetener to one half cup.
A note about apricots: The lovely orange dried apricots have been treated with sulfur. That’s how they retain their lovely color and bright flavour. Organic apricots are unsulfured and a deep colour. They also taste entirely different. The flavour is more sweet and caramel-like.
Super Healthy Granola
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Ingredients:
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4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
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1 cup toasted wheat germ
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½ cup ground flax
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½ cup flaked coconut (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
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1 ½ tsp. cinnamon
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1 ½ tsp. ginger
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1 cup sunflower seeds
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1 cup chopped walnuts
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1/3 cup maple syrup, molasses or honey (or a combination)
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1/3 cup grape seed oil or olive oil
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1/3 cup water
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1 cup dried cranberries, raisins or chopped apricots (or a combination).
Instructions:
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In a large bowl combine the oats, wheat germ, flax, coconut, spices, seeds and walnuts. In a small bowl whisk the sweetener, oil and water.
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Stir liquid into dry and mix until well combined. Spread on a sided cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Bake in a slow oven (275 F) for 45 min to an hour, stirring every 15 minutes so the edges don’t get too brown. When it’s almost done turn off the oven and leave until it cools.
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Cool completely, add the dried fruit and put in an airtight container.
