Guys…the leaves are turning and beginning to fall. It may be 25 degrees outside today, but we had a few mornings last week that were 10 degrees, and when I was walking home from the gym yesterday I found some cute little maple leaves on the ground. It also rained Sunday morning, and before the humidity returned with a vengeance, it left behind that characteristic simultaneous ‘wet leaves’ and somehow crisp, Autumn smell. So I guess we may have to get ready to hail the return of Autumn (and just ignore the horrible winter folks are predicting we’re going to have)!
Now, don’t get me wrong. I actually really like Fall. The colours are beautiful, the air smells really crisp and fresh, daylight (though shorter) has a different quality to it, and best of all… Thanksgiving!!!!! Second best holiday of the year (after Christmas of course)! But I guess I better wait until closer to Thanksgiving to wax poetic about the glorious glorious food I eat every year among my several Thanksgiving Dinners. Prepare yourselves guys. My mum makes THE BEST Thanksgiving dinner, and Dad’s friends live in a Fall photographer’s paradise in northern-ish Ontario. They also serve those amazingly delicious and cheap dinner rolls that are really just conduits of butter. You know the ones I mean.
Obviously, I’ll be deviating from my Paleo-ish diet that long-weekend, but it’s worth it though. And there is always Benadryl!!!! So yea…stay tuned for that gem of a post. I’ll try to remember to take pictures before I inhale my food…
For now, we are going to celebrate the beginning of the turning of the seasons with some Maple Walnut Granola! You see, I had to make my Maple Walnut Granola this week anyway. (I had hoovered my entire supply earlier in the week). But when I saw these cute little red and green-turning-to-orange maple leaves on the ground yesterday, I was inspired. I came home, pulled out my photography stuff, and this blog post was born!
The awesome thing about this Maple Walnut Granola, besides being delicious and it being the only granola recipe I’ve found that doesn’t yield charred fruit chunks, a nasty after-taste, and smoke billowing out of my oven (not kidding), is that it’s dead simple to make! Seriously. We’re talking fewer than 10 ingredients and so little active prep time, it practically makes itself! Ok…not really, but you get my point.
Now, I love this Maple Walnut Granola so much that I eat it almost every day; for breakfast, mid-afternoon snack, or as that pre-meal snack commonly eaten while making breakfast or dinner because you’re starving and it’s better than eating your arm or lashing out at your significant other (everyone does that…right?).
Anywho…this granola can be eaten straight out of its storage container (hand-to-mouth popcorn style), as a cereal, or as a yogurt/ice cream topping. Heck, I’m sure it would taste good as a smoothie topping as well. (I’m getting images of a coffee-based breakfast smoothie with some cocoa nibs and this granola on top. Mmmmmm…don’t be surprised if that one shows up on this blog one day…).
Most of the time I eat it as a cereal. (Though, that is partly due to the fact that that there isn’t a cereal on the planet that I can eat, nor a yogurt for that matter. I have to make the yogurt myself. Sigh). I’ll mix some protein powder into some coconut milk, add two handfuls of granola, and top it with whatever fruit I have on hand (bananas, figs, blueberries, strawberries, nectarines, the list goes on).
It’s also pretty easy to have as a portable snack; even easier if you can eat yogurt. Just grab your yogurt cup, put some granola in a tupperware, and mix when the time is right. But if you’re like me, and can no longer do the yogurt scene (no matter how much you miss creamy, thick Greek yogurt), grab yourself a mason jar, put your milk and fruit of choice in it, toss some granola in a small tupperware, and mix when it’s snack time! Warning: bananas get soggy after sitting in coconut milk for too long. That may seem like a “no sh*t Sherlock” statement, but it’s true. I still eat them, but if you’re a texture person, it’s better to go with blueberries or something.
Ok…now, I would love to continue writing today, but I got slammed with so many assignments for this week that my ‘Reminders’ app on my computer crashed just entering them in (sigh), so…without further ado…I present you Maple Walnut Granola!!!! Yum!
Maple Walnut Granola
A ridiculously easy-to-make and delicious Maple Walnut Granola recipe that is so tasty, you can eat every day without getting tired of it!
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 50 mins
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Cuisine: Breakfast
Ingredients
- 2 cups Oats
- 1 cup Walnuts
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Coconut oil
- 1/3 cup Maple syrup
- 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup Pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
- 1/2 cup Dried currants
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 290 degrees Fahrenheit, and line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper.
- Mix oats, walnuts, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl with a spatula.
- Add the coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla. Mix with the spatula until the oats are evenly coated with maple syrup.
- Evenly distribute the oat mix on the baking sheet with the spatula.
- Bake for 20 mins.
- Remove the baking sheet and flip sections of the granola with the spatula.
- Add the pumpkin seeds and dried currants to the baking sheet, making sure to re-distribute everything evenly on the pan. (This is done so that the oats have a better chance of completely drying out).
- Bake for a further 10 mins.
- Turn oven off, crack the door open a bit (shove a wooden handled spoon/spatula in the door if it doesn’t stay open on its own) and let the granola sit for 10 further mins to dry out a bit more.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 weeks. (If you find that the granola isn’t as dry after a week, you can toss it back in the oven at the same temperature for 10 mins to pep it up)
Notes
Inspired by: Tutti Dolci at http://tutti-dolci.com/2015/09/maple-pecan-granola/
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 cup
- Calories: 162
- Sugar: 7 g
- Sodium: 120 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 19 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: Granola, Vegan, Snacks
Before I completely sign off, I have a few allergen notes and tips for you guys:
- As I’ve mentioned before in my Chocolate Chip Cookie and Blueberry Oatmeal Waffle recipes, oats, on their own are gluten-free, but they’re often grown beside wheat fields and can be contaminated with gluten. Therefore, if you’re REALLY sensitive to gluten, I would recommend getting certified gluten free oats such as: Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Rolled Oats or Only Oats Pure Whole Grain Rolled Oats..
- Should you use a Silpat or Parchment paper? I would honestly vote Silpat on this one. I know that not everyone has one, but they’re da*n handy for more things than Granola (like Cookies!), so I highly recommend that you have one even if you don’t use it for this recipe. (Just make sure you get a size that fits your pan!) The reason I prefer the Silpat for this recipe is that I find it prevents the granola from drying out SO much that it’s like eating flaky saw dust. You see, Silpats have an almost oily texture to them from the jump (which makes them non-stick). When you make oilier things on them, such as cookies, you can just wipe the excess oil off, leaving the Silpat with its original texture for the next thing you bake. In other words, like a cast iron skillet, their non-stickiness is kinda self-rejuvenating. Then when you go to make something on them that isn’t as oily, like Maple Walnut Granola, it maintains SOME of the moisture in the food and leaves it with a more pleasant texture.
Ok…that’s all folks. Enjoy the last vestiges of Summer guys! If you have any questions for me or want to leave a comment, you can either comment below or shoot me an email.
Ciao!
