I love granola, especially added into my Greek yogurt for a little crunch. The problem I find is that most granola that I see in the store isn't really that healthy. Read the label and you will see what I'm talking about. In some cases, you might just as well eat a candy bar. Today I decided to try to make some myself so that I could control what is in it. If you like your granola on the sweet side, just double the amount of sauce you pour over the oats and nuts. I think that the fruit adds just enough sweetness for my taste. Here's what you'll need:

3 C rolled oats
2 C sliced almonds
2 C walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 C flax seeds
1/4 C dark brown sugar
1/4 C honey
4 TBL extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 C each of dried cherries, crystallized ginger, and coconut

Start my spreading the oats, nuts, and seeds on a rimmed baking sheet and baking at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.

While the oat mixture is toasting, add the brown sugar, honey, and olive oil to a small sauce pan and heat on medium until the sugar melts. Add the vanilla and stir.

Remove the oat mixture from the oven and drizzle the sauce over the top, stirring until the ingredients are are evenly coated.

Return the granola to the oven and bake for 20 more minutes, stirring ever 5 minutes. While the granola is baking, chop the ginger and the coconut. When the granola is nice and toasted and golden brown, remove from the oven and add the dried fruit. Let cool completely then sprinkle the cinnamon over it and stir it well. I store mine in a zip lock bag.

That's it. You can vary the flavor by using different nuts and fruits, whatever combinations you like. It's great by the handful, over yogurt or with milk for breakfast.

Enjoy!

Lynn

Breakfast Cookies

I've seen a lot of recipes for breakfast cookies lately so I thought I should give them a try. After all, who wouldn't want to eat a cookie for breakfast!? I played around and this is what I came up with. No eggs, no refined sugar, just good stuff. Here's what you'll need:

2 C oats
1 C unsweetened applesauce
1 C ripe bananas, mashed (I used 3 medium sized)
1 C dried cranberries
1 C chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put everything in a bowl and mix it up. That's it. I thought about breaking it down into individual steps, but why? It should be slightly more wet than cookie dough.

Line 2 cookies sheets with parchment paper. Using an ice cream scoop, drop onto the cookie sheets, leaving at least an inch between each cookie. These cookies don't spread, so the shape it is in when you put it in the oven is the shape it will be when it's cooked. The cookies I made are very round, so next time I will probably mash the top down slightly to make them a little flatter. You'll get about 15 cookies. Bake for 30-35 minutes.