Healthy Granola

The granola we find in the supermarket is predominantly a fancy toasted oats mixture. It costs far less to make your own than to buy it! It is so easy to make too; today I am going to show you how to make a batch of healthy granola. A perfect topping for yogurt; actually my favorite topping for yogurt! What’s awesome about granola is you can tweak it to your liking. It just takes several ingredients and 15 minutes of your time to make.

Ingredients

3 cups of rolled oats

2 cups of almonds

1 cup of sesame seeds

1/4 a cup of honey

1/2 a cup of either almond or peanut butter

2 tablespoons of chia seeds

1 cup of raisins

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon of light brown sugar (optional)

1 tablespoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of salt

Instructions

In a large pan; gather your almonds, oats, and sesame seeds and toast them till light brown. This should take about 5 minutes or so on medium heat. Be sure to consistently stir things around so the mixture is evenly browned. You can also bake in the oven to reach this outcome if you choose to do so. I like to toast in the pan so I can keep my eye on them and make sure nothing gets too dark. Plus, if I can avoid turning the oven on; then I will!

Once the oats and nuts are done; place in a large bowl. Add the raisins, chia seeds, and cinnamon.

In the same pan, add the peanut/almond butter along with the honey and vanilla extract. Stir on low heat for just 2 minutes till the peanut butter is smoother and loose. Add this mixture to your oats.

Mix everything together with a spatula or your hands to get everything evenly coated. If you would like to add the brown sugar for more sweetness; then you can do so at this point.

There you have it! Healthy Granola 🙂

*If you process 8 pitted dates and mix it with the granola and add a little more honey; you can make granola bars. I did that as well. You just have to place it in a parchment paper lined pan and flatten the mixture then allow to cool in the fridge for at least an hour before cutting.