Quinoa Granola

If you follow me on twitter, then you saw me tweet last weekend about Quinoa Granola. I had a lot of people tell me how great that sounded. And let me tell you, IT IS AMAZING! My only regret is that I waited six months to actually make the stuff. I got the idea from Elise, at Hungry Hungry Hippie. She’s one of my favorite bloggers. I ended up changing the recipe-as usual. So I want to link you back to Elise’s recipe, which can be found here so that you can see her method, and so that you know I leaned heavily on her recipe for guidance, but I did not follow it completely. Since I’m very comfortable with making granola, I decided to modify this recipe slightly to suit my taste and my pantry. I didn’t want to buy anything extra besides the oats groats (which cost me less than $1).

A note: Yes, I know that quinoa and oats groats (buckwheat) are super hard grains when they aren’t cooked. I know you might be thinking “I’m going to crack a tooth while eating this.” But these two things soften up with oil and sweetner and they’re no more crunchy than a toasted nut. Just take my word for it, you’re going to love this!

My recipe:
Turn the oven on to 225, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a slipmat. This is 100% necessary. I cannot be held responsible for a ruined pan or burnt coconut if you skip this step.
Mix together in a large bowl:
1 c rolled oats (not quick)
1 c buckwheat (oats groats-I got them in the bulk bin at Whole Foods)
1/3 c quinoa (not cooked)
2 T chia seeds
1 c chopped raw almonds
1/4 c pumpkin seeds
1/2 c chopped walnuts
1/4 c shredded or flaked coconut
1 t ground cinnamon
1 t ground ginger
1/3 c golden raisins
1/3 c finely chopped crystallized ginger
Stir the above until well combined. In a mixing cup combine 1/3 c coconut oil and 2 T artisana coconut butter and melt them together in the microwave. Add 2 T raw almond butter (any nut butter will work), 1 t vanilla extract, and 1/2 c Ohgave! Honey Flavored agave to the coconut oil/butter mixtuer and stir with a fork until well combined. Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients, a stir until combined. Your mixture should be…wetter than any granola you’ve made in the past. Don’t panic, that’s how it’s supposed to be. Bake for 60 minutes at 225. Remove from the oven, increase oven temp to 300, sprinkle granola with 2 T raw cacao nibs, and bake for 10 more minutes. Let cool completely, then store in jars in the fridge. If you do not have raw cacao, you can add 3 T chocolate chips to the granola after it has baked at 300 for 10 minutes while the granola is still warm. Stir after adding the chips to form yummy chocolate clusters, then let the granola cool.

Makes around 6 cups. Highly addictive.
The picture below, of my Ohgave! was your teaser pic for the granola. Sadly, I have not yet managed to stop eating this granola for long enough to get a decent shot, but I think the ingredients speak for themselves. Please note, you can change out the fruits and nuts to suit your taste. The same applies to the sweetener and the oil. Just remember, light agave burns at a lower temperature than most, so keep an eye on your granola if you’re using light agave.

For the record, as someone who does consume honey, the ohgave! freaks me out. It tastes like honey, but it’s way thinner. I like it. I wish it worked for seasonal allergies!!