Live-Longer Granola

I recently reviewed The Blue Zones Kitchen and have really been using this cookbook since.   It’s been hard lately cooking from a cookbook because I am not running to the store for needed ingredients.  If we don’t have it, we make something else (or totally revamp the original recipe).

Having recently eaten the last of the granola (which was store bought),  I needed more for our breakfasts.  (We are eating all breakfasts in now of course.)

I had a new granola recipes I wanted to try:  Strawberry Granola.  This recipe called for coconut chips (didn’t have any),  pepitas (all out), and freeze-dried strawberries (the cupboard was bare).   I really want to try this recipe because it also called for a very interesting 1/4 t. of red pepper flakes.   Alas, maybe when I can brave the supermarket I will give it a try.

Instead, The Blue Zone Kitchen came through.  I had everything on hand to make this one.  Plus, I had to throw in a couple of other ingredients I found in the pantry.

Live Longer Granola

Based on “Granola Every Day, Every Way” from The Blue Zones Kitchen

There’s lots of variations in the cookbook: Granola Mexicana, Chai-Spiced Granola and Power Granola.

Ingredients

  • 3 c. old-fashioned oats
  • 1 1/2 to 2 c. raw nuts (I used cashews.)
  • 3 T. coconut oil, melted
  • 1/2 c. maple syrup
  • 1/2 t. ground cinnamon (I increased this from the original 1/4 t.)
  • 1/2 c. unsweetened coconut (My addition)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 300 F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon pad.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, nuts, and coconut.
  3. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, combine coconut oil, syrup and cinnamon. Mix. More liquid mixture into oat mixture and stir to combine.
  4. Spread on baking sheet and cook for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Granola should be golden brown.
  5. Remove from oven and let cool. At this point, you can add dried fruit if you desire.

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 10 mins.

Cook time: 30 mins.

Total time: 40 mins.

Use your largest baking sheet.

I say this every time I make a new granola…this one is my favorite.  For all my granola recipes and recipes that use granola, click here.

Well, what day are you on?   In a recent ZOOM meeting, the boss asked “How many days have we been meeting remotely?”

I responded, “Ninety.”   I tend to be a smart alec.   It hasn’t been ninety but it sure feels like it.   I have been on house isolation in the “home office” since March 16.     I’m also pausing a bit at the title I gave this inspired-by recipe.   On a business call last week, I found myself rethinking using sayings and terms like “Let’s just see what the temperature is like then” and “drop-dead date.”

How long have you been at it?

Linking up with Foodies Read for May.

Also connecting with Beth Fish’s Weekend Cooking.

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