a crunchy kind of morning

Sometimes, you just really need a good handful of granola. I mean, honestly, it's hard to find someone who doesn't like granola. Its sweet, salty, crunchy and simply delicious. It is one of my favorite breakfasts or mid-morning snacks on the go, and one of the things I really miss now that I am gluten free. One of the things that drives me totally bonkers, is when something unnecessarily contains gluten. It totally kills me when something could be gluten free, but for a silly reason it is not. For example, gluten free oats are just as great as regular oats. Actually, they're not only just as great- they're the SAME! I know, it's hard to believe, but it's true. Good old regular oats contain gluten because of cross-contamination, not because the oats themselves contain gluten (some people with Celiac are also intolerant to gluten free oats). So basically, what I'm saying, is that I could be enjoying delicious Quaker oats and instant oatmeal for my breakfasts, but silly cross-contamination is keeping me back.

All of that being said, it is definitely important to be able to get creative with breakfast when eating gluten free. I used to bring packets of instant oatmeal to work and enjoy them while checking my morning emails, but felt stuck after I recognized I had a gluten intolerance. Gone was the easy convenience of grabbing two packs of instant oatmeal to go in the morning --what's a girl to do?! I soon learned that there were other ways to go about satisfying my morning cravings. I bake muffins, eat gf toast with almond butter, and even have found gluten free oats (thank goodness, I missed my morning oatmeal).

Upon finding gf oats, and realizing that I could use them in gf baking, I had a genius idea. I could make granola!! Over joyed, I began to wrack my brain (and the Internet) for ideas and inspiration for making my granola. I remembered a delicious homemade granola that my boyfriend's mom had made awhile back and asked her for the recipe. With a few tweeks, I was able to make the recipe gluten free, and delicious. This stuff is seriously addicting, not to mention a wonderfully healthy breakfast, or snack any time of the day. My boyfriend eats it by the handful, and I promise, he's a harsh critic. I definitely recommend you make some- it is so easy and so delicious. In an air-tight container, this granola will last at least a week and a half to two weeks. If you like more chunks in your granola, add more of the liquid topping (butter, honey, sugar) when you bake. Definitely get creative with this- different nuts, dried fruit, and even chocolate would be delicious in this recipe!

good morning, granola

Good Morning Granola

2 1/2 cups oats (not quick cooking)
1 cup coconut (raw shredded)
1/3 cup toasted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
1/3 cup toasted slivered almonds
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla

pre-baking

getting toasty

golden, crunchy, delicious.

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees
Spread the oats, coconut, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, and almonds evenly onto a baking dish
Bake the dry ingredients for 20 minutes
In the meantime, over medium-how heat, melt together the butter, brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and honey, adding the vanilla when the other ingredients have melted together
After 20 minutes of baking the dry ingredients, pull out out the baking dish and turn the oven up to 350 degrees
Pour the wet, melted ingredients over the top of the dry ingredients and stir to combine
Return the granola to the oven and bake for 5 minutes, removing to mix, and returning to the oven
Cook for another 5 minutes, remove to mix, and return to the oven
After a last 5 minutes, remove the granola from the oven and allow to cool fully on the baking sheet before removing and storing in an air tight container
enjoy!!