I’ve been randomly craving granola and yogurt lately. A couple of weeks ago I splurged (nutritionally) on the Love Crunch brand of granola…what a treat! For my taste buds, not my body. Ever since then I’ve been wanting to create my own version, minus the sweeteners and oatmeal and plus some more nuts and seeds.

I’m not usually one for trying to get protein out of nuts and seeds, as I find my body absorbs and uses animal protein much better. But I figured it can’t hurt, right? And, it’s quick and tastes great.

Here’s what I came up with for my first try. Of course you could easily swap out all different kinds of nuts, seeds, and dried fruit, this is just what I happened to have. I think cashews would be great in this, but Charley ate the whole container we got from Costco so I didn’t have any left! Notice that there are chia seeds in this mix. They will gel when mixed with liquid (like almond milk or coconut yogurt) so leave them out if that freaks you out. Also, I really wanted to make this with NO sweeteners of any kind, so you’ll notice it doesn’t clump together like regular granola would, because of the absence of maple syrup or honey. Just deal with it, friends.

Ingredients:

-1 cup almonds, chopped

-1 cup pecans, chopped

-1 cup walnuts, chopped

-1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

-1/2 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut

-3/4 cup dried cranberries

-1/2 cup mixed chia/hemp/buckwheat (I used this brand)

-2-3 tsp orange zest (about one small orange)

-2 tsp cinnamon

-1 tsp nutmeg

-1/2 cup melted coconut oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix evenly.
3. Spread on lined baking sheets and bake for 20-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Keep a close eye on it and make sure it doesn’t burn!
4. When it’s toasty and browning and smelling amazing, remove it from the oven and let it cool. Once it’s cooled down, store in an air tight container in the fridge.
5. Enjoy by the handful (my style) or with berries and homemade almond milk. I attempted some coconut milk chia pudding to go with it (as seen in photo below) but I used a new brand of coconut milk and it was kinda gross. There’s always next time!

Eat well, move your body, and have a great week!