Crunchy Granola

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” ― Jane Austen

It turns out that my "Stark" attitude towards this gorgeous weather was completely justified. WINTER IS ALWAYS COMING!

Lately, every time I see the sun I behave as though it's a completely fleeting thing that I have to enjoy or else it'll be gone. Years of taking gorgeous weather for granted has apparently conditioned me to embrace every day of sunny and 75. For good reason too, just this morning it SNOWED!

Yes, April ends this week and soon we're told we should enjoy 'May flowers' but this morning for a solid 10 minutes I was snowed upon from the heavens. If it hadn't been so comical I might've been annoyed. Oh well, this just reminds me to treat every gorgeous day like a Stark would. Party like Winter is Coming.

Crunchy Versatile Granola

Almost every ingredient in this recipe can be substituted for something else. The important thing is the proportions. It's great alone, on yogurt, on ice cream, whatever!

Ingredients:

4 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup raw almonds (chopped or slivered)

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

1 cup flaked coconut

pinch ground sea salt

1/3 cup liquid honey/maple syrup/agave

4 tbsp oil (coconut, sunflower, ghee)

1/4 cup chopped dates (or figs)

4 tbsp raisins

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

In a large bowl combine oats, nuts, coconut, salt. Mix in raisins.

In a small bowl mix oil and honey together (heat in microwave if desired)

Pour oil honey mixture over oats and stir.

Place on baking sheet and bake. Remove every 10 minutes to stir. When oats are beginning to golden, remove from oven and mix in dates and any other dried fruits.

Store in glass jar or airtight container.

Optional additions and flavors:

chia seeds

flax seeds

figs, cranberries, cherries, goji berries

sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, cashews

cinnamon, cardamom, cocoa, vanilla

#granola #breakfast #brunch #oats #dates