The inspiration for making granola came when I was trying to decide what to have for breakfast this morning. I was not in the mood for eggs. There were no leftovers in the fridge. The Chicken Coconut Soup I made for dinner the day before did not make it through the night -- Ed loved it. He devoured the whole pot after a long day at the office. He said it was an A+ recipe, yay!
I open the fridge and I see a tub of greek yogurt and some berries. I thought, "great, a parfait!" but when I took out a bag of granola from the pantry, I realized it has oats (a no-no in paleo world). I could go the easy route and have some yogurt with just berries and no granola, or I could attempt to make my own granola and have the parfait that is etched in my mind. Since you are reading this post, I think you have an idea of which route I chose :)
Making this granola is super easy. Throw the nuts in a food processor, pulse 30 times, add coconut oil, honey, and vanilla extra, stir it all around, throw it all on your silicone baking sheet and pop it in the oven! If you don't have a food processor, no worries, just chop your nuts with a sharp knife.
I really like my Silpat Silicone Sheet. It's great to have around when I don't want to deal with parchment paper. For some reason, the roll of parchment paper is always longer than my baking sheet and I would have to cut or fold the sides to make it fit properly into the sheet. Silpat fits perfectly in my baking sheet -- no fuss.
When your granola is ready to come out of the oven, it will turn into a golden brown color but you'll know when it's about ready even before the timer rings because the aroma will guide you into the kitchen. Jar it up and give it away to friends and family... I think that's what I'm going to do :)
Homemade Paleo Granola
Ingredients:
1 cup cashews
3/4 cup almonds
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup dried cranberries
1 teaspoon coarse salt
Preheat oven to 300°F.
Place cashews, almonds, walnuts, pine nutes, and coconut flakes in a food processor. Hit the pulse button 30 times. You will still see some big chunks of nuts but that is okay.
In a small bowl, mix together coconut oil, honey and vanilla. If these ingredients have harden, then heat them up over a low fire in a small sauce pot. Do not let the mixture boil.
Line a baking sheet with a silicone sheet or parchment paper.
Combine the liquid mixture, the nuts mixture, and dried cranberries in a large bowl. Spread the mixture over a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Do not stir while mixture is in the oven.
Remove the baked granola from the oven, stir in salt and allow to cool for 20 minutes. When you take the granola out, the granola will look slightly wet but that is normal. When the granola cools, it will start to harden.
After granola has cooled, break up the large chunks into small chunks and store in an airtight container.
Ingredients:
1 cup cashews
3/4 cup almonds
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup dried cranberries
1 teaspoon coarse salt
Preheat oven to 300°F.
Place cashews, almonds, walnuts, pine nutes, and coconut flakes in a food processor. Hit the pulse button 30 times. You will still see some big chunks of nuts but that is okay.
In a small bowl, mix together coconut oil, honey and vanilla. If these ingredients have harden, then heat them up over a low fire in a small sauce pot. Do not let the mixture boil.
Line a baking sheet with a silicone sheet or parchment paper.
Combine the liquid mixture, the nuts mixture, and dried cranberries in a large bowl. Spread the mixture over a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Do not stir while mixture is in the oven.
Remove the baked granola from the oven, stir in salt and allow to cool for 20 minutes. When you take the granola out, the granola will look slightly wet but that is normal. When the granola cools, it will start to harden.
After granola has cooled, break up the large chunks into small chunks and store in an airtight container.
