Vegan Granola: Part One (of Two)
Autumn in San Diego is somewhat misleading. The sunshine feels more intense, because the marine layer is strangely absent. The wind can feel warm, because the Santa Ana’s are blowing. And the leaves don’t turn red and gold, because palm trees play by their own rules. But I don’t care. Fall is fall, and one of my favorite fall dishes is homemade vegan granola.
Granola’s sweet taste, crunchy texture, and versatile flavors make it a food for anytime during the day. I love it as a snack on the run, or a peaceful breakfast at the kitchen table with a newspaper (ok, fine, it’s an US Weekly). And this recipe goes well with the hemp milk recipe that I posted last week!
Angela Liddon writes an amazing vegan recipe blog called Oh She Glows. I followed the recipe for her granola as follows:
http://ohsheglows.com/2011/01/04/my-favourite-homemade-granola-to-date/
If you have never made granola, don’t be intimidated. It’s a forgiving recipe. It will still taste good even if you add an extra handful of coconut or almonds!
The dry ingredients act as the base.
But you can throw in additional nuts, seeds, or dried fruit – whatever you are in the mood for. Ms. Liddon suggests dried cranberries, raisins, and pumpkin seeds. I don’t like raisins, so I ramped up on dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds!
I rounded up all of the wet ingredients…
And heated the wet ingredients, stirring until they combined.
I combined the wet and dry ingredients and mixed them together.
Finally, I spread the mixture on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper or tin foil. Your work is almost done! The granola is then baked in the oven at 300 degrees for about 45 minutes.
As the granola begins to bake, your home will smell amazing. (It’s worth taking a short walk outside, so you can enjoy the effect, upon reentry, at full force.) To make sure that it bakes evenly, take the tray out of the oven every 15 minutes and stir it. When the granola is done, let it cool. Then break it up into pieces and store in an airtight container.
Hungry for more granola? Me too! Check back soon for “part two” – another vegan recipe, but VERY different!!
- DRY INGREDIENTS
- 2.5 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup raw almonds, roughly chopped
- ½ cup raw walnuts, roughly chopped
- ½ cup raw sunflower seeds
- ½ cup raw sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp ground flax
- 2 tbsp sweetened coconut flakes
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- Pinch of ground nutmeg
- ¾ tsp salt
- WET INGREDIENTS:
- 3-4 tbsp brown rice syrup
- 1 tbsp agave nectar
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- ⅓ cup packed brown sugar
- ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS:
- ⅓ cup dried cranberries
- ⅓ cup raisins
- handful pumpkin seeds
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Combine the dry ingredients (including any add-ins) into a large mixing bowl.
- Place the wet ingredients in a saucepan and bring them to a boil.
- Turn down the heat and stir the ingredients until blended.
- Combine the dry and wet ingredients.
- Spread granola mixture in thin layer on cookie sheet lined with tin foil or parchment paper.
- Bake granola at 300 degrees for 45 minutes.
- Take the cookie sheet out of oven every 15 minutes to stir the granola mixture to ensure the granola bakes evenly.
- Allow granola to cool.
- Break granola up into pieces and store in airtight container.