island granola

Granola is just fantastic. It's crunchy, sweet, relatively healthy and it's breakfast.  This particular granola is probably the best I've ever made.  This weekend we are going camping, so I thought I would whip a batch up for the trip. I wanted something summery but filling.  I've grown up making granola, but instead of using the typical 1/2 cup canola oil, I used coconut oil. Best decision I ever made.  The coconut oil lends a tropical kick to the oats.  That little kick pairs perfectly with dried pineapple and mango.  Almond, macadamia nuts, and peanuts add enough protein to make it stick with you. 

Island Granola

Ingredients:
3 cups gluten free oats
1/2 cup raw almonds
1 cup tropical trail mix (I used Nature's Harvet Maui Wowi Trail Mix with peanuts, macademia nuts, pineapple, almonds, golden raisans, and raisins. It was just cheaper to buy one bag of trail mix than several bags of each ingredient. ;)
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons ginger
1 cup dried mango, chopped
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup maple syrup

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Yields: 12 servings 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Mix oats, almonds, flax seed, ginger, trail mix, dried mango, and salt together. Add coconut oil and maple syrup until your mixture is covered.  

2. Thinly spread your granola across a cookie sheet. Brown in oven for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. When the oats are a nice golden color, remove from the oven. Let granola cool completely.  Serve with plain lowfat greek yogurt and warm honey. 

3.  Store in an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to two weeks.