Cherry Nut Granola

 

I am not a morning person. By that, I mean if you ask me anything directly after I get up, expect ogre-like grunts and angry muttering. So much so, in fact, that when I was a teenager living at home, my mother once informed our houseguests to avoid initiating conversation with me until I'd been awake for 30 minutes. Ok, it was actually 45. But that's beside the point. Basically, this granola almost makes me excited to get up, which is pretty much unheard of.

 

I was perusing the aisles of the grocery store, trying to find some decent breakfast fuel only to discover that everything was both overpriced and filled with added sugar or contained strange dried fruits I had no interest in chewing on.  

Then it hit me. I don't have to buy this! I can make my own!! This realization was almost as liberating as going grocery shopping for the first time without my parents and discovering I could buy exactly what I wanted to eat. O the joyyy!!

The recipe I ended up with is something you can clearly use as a basis to create your very own favorite granola. Just replace the nuts with ones you like and add your favorite dried fruits. 

It is just heavenly with plain yogurt or cottage cheese and then a some of fresh (or frozen and defrosted) berries. And unlike eating a piece of toast with jam or bowl of cinnamon toast crunch, this will keep you satisfied for a while. With all that fiber from the steel cut oats,  antioxidants from the berries (and walnuts!*) plus the protein from the nuts and cottage cheese, you will be set to take on the morning. Yes, there is fat in the nuts, but it's unsaturated so breath a sigh of relief and enjoy!

 

*I only recently found out that they are right up there with blueberries in terms of antixoidants! Who doesn't want to fight free-radical damage that can contribute to heart disease, premature aging and cancer? (To read more, see Times article)
 

Cherry Nut Granola

Ingredients:
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3 1/4 cups of steel cut oats
1/2 cup of chopped almonds
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup of pumpkin seeds
1/2 shaved coconut
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup applesauce
2 T. honey
1/4 cup dried unsweetened cherries, chopped

Directions:

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1. Preheat the oven to 175 C (300 F). Combine oats, nuts, seeds and coconut in a large bowl.

2. In a separate bowl mix applesauce, cinnamon, salt, vanilla and honey together.

3. Then pour wet mixture into the large bowl and fold until combined. In a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spread the mixture out in an even layer. Bake 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown while folding the granola over every 10 minutes to let moisture escape and so it browns evenly.

4. Let cool and add dried cherries.