Granola is a touchy subject for me. You see, I love a granola-topped plain yogurt with fruit concoction for breakfast, but not just any granola. I used to spend so much time in Henry’s Market trying to choose which bulk granola to buy. They literally have 20 bins full of various types of granola.  So I’d stand there, comparing the ingredients, versus the calories, versus the protein, verses the fat, versus the fiber, versus all that sugar… I needed something that would boost my morning, not just my blood sugar. Needless to say, I finally did choose a plain, organic granola made with rolled oats, coconut, and sunflower seeds, sweetened with sugar cane. It was pretty good and it did the trick, but come on, the Little Yellow Kitchen could do so much better!

Making granola is my new favorite pastime; I have already made two batches in a few days’ time. No, not because I miraculously gobbled down that much oat-y mixture in a day (eeek, I’d be hurtin’), but because it’s so easy and so much fun to come up with new combinations! They are endless. If I keep it up at this rate, I better start sending out care packages—any takers? Or better yet, I could leave a little brown baggie on my neighbor’s doorstep. No, no, not lit on fire, and definitely not filled with dog poop, like those little rascals do in the movies to the poor, unsuspecting neighbor. Just filled with granola, come on.

This particular granola combo, has minimal sugar, fortified with lots of fiber and seasoned with pumpkin-spicy goodness. It’s a home-run.

Granola Preparation:

Liquid mix.

Dry mix.

Fibrous & healthy goodness. It makes me wonder how people can mess up “granola.”

Pour the liquid mixture into the oat mixture and fold in, until evenly coated.

Spread the coated granola mixture, evenly on the two baking sheets and bake, mixing halfway through.

Caution:

View the remaining pics at your own discretion. I dressed up the granola in a sexy wine glass, topped with naked [unsweetened] coconut. Furthermore, the flirty granola is captured in some pretty suggestive poses, so there, I warned you. Here is the sexy photo shoot.

Ooohhh la la!

Enchanté, Mademoiselle!

Oh don’t worry, we made far more than just the above pictured. This recipe makes a huge vat of granola. We found the biggest jar we could find to store the bigger half of the batch. Although, I think in its previous life, the jar was a Costco-sized pickle jar. No matter how many times through the dishwasher, re-used jars always have a hint of their last contents. Gross, I know, I’ll stop. In future granola packaging, I think a tupperware container will do just fine. Whatever, pickle-perfumed or not, it still tastes magnificent!!

The rest was portioned off into plastic containers for work– to add to our morning yogurt.

Fiber-ific Pumpkin Spice Granola

Ingredients:

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 crunchy unsalted peanut butter

1/3 cup maple syrup (Grade B)

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

4 cups oats

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup sliced raw almonds

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/4 cup oat bran

1/4 cup flax (whole or ground)

1/3 cup unsalted sunflower seeds

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

2. Add the canola oil, peanut butter, syrup, salt, and pumpkin spice to a medium saucepan, and simmer for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. While the liquids are simmering, mix together the rest of the ingredients, in a separate bowl. Add the hot liquid to the dry mixture and mix well. On two foil-lined baking sheets, spread the granola evenly.

4. Put in the oven and bake for 40-50 minutes. Halfway through, stir the granola and spread it on the sheets evenly.

5. Let cool completely on the sheets, before storing in a container.

From the Little Yellow Kitchen, 

Chrissy