Cinnamon Maple Granola
By: Active Foodie
Published: Saturday, December 5, 2009 - 1:24am

Ingredients




1 cup oats
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup chopped pecans
3 tablespoons flax seeds
 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation

1 Preheat oven to 250 degrees. 2 Combine oats, nuts, flax seeds and coconut. Place on cookie sheet (with a silpat if you have it) and toast for 10 minutes. 3 Meanwhile, combine syrup, oil and cinnamon in a small saucepan and warm through, on medium low heat, for about 5 minutes. Take off heat and add vanilla. 4 Take the oat mixture out of the oven and drizzle liquid over the oat mixture. Stir until all the oats are coated in the liquid. Spread out and put back in oven for about 40 minutes, or until browned, mixing ever 10 minutes to make sure the edges don’t burn. 5 When it looks golden brown take out, let cool and enjoy!

About


They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.   Whether or not that is true, I’ll be honest with you, after depriving my body of food for 10 hours, the beast inside of me wants to be fed, hungry or not.   This isn’t always easy when my commute to work can take upwards of an hour.   Although I love making decadent breakfast on the weekends, weekdays are all about grab-and-go breakfasts.  This includes bagels, English muffins, and any and every type of whole wheat muffin that I can come up.  However, these aren’t always the most healthful breakfasts.
This is exactly why I absolutely love this homemade granola.  First, it much better for you than most pre-made granola you can buy at the store.  Second, it is super simple to make, and it can be used in a variety of ways for a quick and easy breakfast.   Third, you can play around with the ingredients and customize it to your liking.
This particular granola I used to top whole-wheat pumpkin muffins, in a peach and yogurt parfait, and I even eat it plain!  It’s delicious, give it a try!