If you’re after a real health kick, forget sugary cereals in a box and try a wholefood granola recipe.
Real Food Daily’s Ann Gentry is all about making time for preparing nutritious food and putting the love back into meal times. She kindly shared her Super Hippie Granola recipe from her new book, Vegan Family Meals…
Granola has long been thought of as hippie food. I call my granola Super Hippie because it contains superfoods like goji berries and Hunza mulberries, which make it even more nutrition-packed than the original.
The best granola has just the right amount of sweetness and crunchiness and has been baked to a golden brown. For perfectly balanced sweetness, cut the maple syrup with rice syrup. Rice syrup is also essential to the texture, as it helps create clusters, which granola-lovers know are key to exceptional results (ideally, granolas are equal parts loose ingredients and small clusters).
If you don’t have coconut oil on hand, using an unflavored neutral cooking oil is fine. Granola makes a great snack on its own and is delicious served with any nondairy milk, including homemade nut milk.
Super Hippie Granola Recipe
Makes 6 cups
1½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
½ cup raw Brazil nuts, coarsely chopped
½ cup raw shelled sunflower seeds
½ cup raw whole almonds, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 tablespoons melted unrefined coconut oil (see Cooking Tip)
½ cup pure maple syrup
¼ cup brown rice syrup
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¼ cup dried apricots, diced
¼ cup dried goji berries
¼ cup dried Hunza mulberries
¼ cup golden raisins
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F. Line a large, heavy baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mix the oats, Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, almonds, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.
Heat the coconut oil in a small, heavy saucepan over low heat. Add the maple syrup, rice syrup, water, and vanilla, and whisk just until blended and heated through.
Drizzle the syrup mixture over the oat mixture, and stir with a whisk to coat. Spoon the granola mixture evenly over the prepared baking sheet.
Bake the granola for about 40 minutes, or until it is golden brown and clusters form. As the granola bakes, gently stir it about every 15 minutes with a fork to ensure it cooks evenly but being careful not to break up the clusters. Add the dried apricots, goji berries, mulberries, and raisins and continue baking for 10 minutes longer.
Set the granola aside to cool (it will become crunchy when cool). The granola can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Cooking Tip: You’ll need to melt the coconut oil before measuring it. In a small saucepan, place 2 generous tablespoons of solid coconut oil over the lowest heat and melt. Once it’s liquid, measure to 2 tablespoons of oil.
Variations: It’s fun to experiment with some of the superfoods, but don’t let these unusual ingredients or their unavailability turn you away from making granola: While they are easily found in many areas in natural foods stores, you may choose to substitute dried coconut, cranberries, cherries, dates, or figs. Golden raisins add a beautiful color, but any black raisin or currant will do. Feel free to use your favorite nuts and seeds; I often use walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts.
Super Hippie Granola Recipe From Vegan Family Meals by Ann Gentry/Andrews McMeel Publishing
