Light Granola

I don't ever buy granola since most aren't gluten free (or if they are they contain honey) and I like to control what I put in mine.  Here's a great simple recipe that makes a good granola topping, can be used in a trail mix, or just pour almond milk over some and eat as a cereal.

This recipe was adapted from Oh She Glows:

Ingredients:

Dry:

• 2 cups GF rolled oats
• 1/2 cup almonds, chopped
• 1/2 cup uncooked millet (I didn't have millet and used quinoa, but want to try with millet)
• 2 tbsp ground flax
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Wet:

• 2 heaping tbsp applesauce
• 1/4 cup brown rice syrup (I didn't have this so used 2 tbsp molasses)
• 3 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together the wet ingredients, except for the extracts, then microwave for 30-60 second.  Stir in the extracts until combined.
4. Add wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir well until everything is coated.  Scoop onto baking sheet and bake 20-25 minutes, stirring once halfway through baking.
5. Allow to cool for about 10-15 minutes on the making sheet.

This recipe makes about 5 cups of granola and should be stored in an air-tight container for 1-2 months.

Close up! You can really see the oats, almonds, and quinoa that make up this healthy granola!

This is one way I used the granola, for a yogurt parfait - I sprinkled some of the granola over sliced strawberries and Silk Vanilla Yogurt!

Another simple breakfast idea - I put some of the granola in a bowl and poured almond milk on top for cereal.  This granola works great for this breakfast since it is a lighter version granola and makes a very filling breakfast, it kept me full for 4.5 hours.