I have spent some amount of $$s on healthy granola alternatives in the past. Since I cant eat oats, dairy, anything that's even breathed near gluten, and choose not to eat sugar, my 'granola' options are next to zero when the 'I-need-crunchy-cereal-for-dinner' urge strikes... Unless I'm willing to fork out a fortune for a box of nuts with a little healthy flavour on them, and I'm not. Mainly because I can whip it up too easily to justify the costs. Craving granola, chocolate, and crunchy goodness I decided to come up with this recipe (which you will love). I'm gonna call it 'Quinola.' I'm not sure that's even a word. But I like it, so I'm gonna use it.
Having already created a healthy paleo granola in the 120 Cleanse, which is beyond divine (in fact I know a few people have used it as Christmas presents in cute jars if you need ideas!), I felt like making a different twist that involved quinoa and cacao. Because seriously who doesn't want their granola to be chocolatey (although you can omit the cacao if that ain't your thing... but lets be real here, it's definitely your thing), and the quinoa helps to boost the protein content, makes things super crunchy, and can even give you 'clusters.'
And whilst I could ramble for ages about how awesome this is, let's just get down to business. The fact I made this for 25 (big) servings means it is good. Real good. So good in fact I have had to portion it out and hide jars to stop me from overeating it.
Serves 25 (approx. 3/4 cup size; although half a cup is probably more reasonable for most people... I just love to eat a lot):
Nutritional Info (approx.) per 3/4 cup serve:
Calories 337
Fat 21.3g
Carbs 28.7g (9.6 in fibre and 7.7 in healthy natural sugar)
Protein 9g
Ingredients:
Initial granola mix:
2.5 cups/500g of uncooked quinoa
3/4 cup chia seeds
500g sunflower seeds (or you could do a mix of whatever seeds and nuts you like; no rules here use whatever you've got or like)
Chocolate dressing:
4 Tablespoons of coldpressed mellow yellow rapeseed oil (or coconut oil)
4 Tablespoons of raw organic honey (maple syrup or coconut nectar for vegans)
5 Tablespoons of raw cacao powder
2 tsp cinnamon
5 Tablespoons of water
Later Granola add ins:
1 Tablespoon of cacao powder
1 Tablespoon of honey
1 Tablespoon of coconut oil
200g (2 cups) coconut flakes
250g incan berries (or you can use whatever dried fruit you have like raisins, gojis, chopped dates etc just make sure there's no nasty additives)
How to:
1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Get four large trays ready to get Quinola-ing!
2. Cook your quinoa according to your packet or cook for 10-15 minutes at medium-high heat with 5 cups of water till cooked then drain.
3. In a pan over medium heat combine the chocolate dressing sauce until melted. Add the cooked quinoa, chia seeds, and sunflower seeds and stir to coat all your mix with chocolatey goodness.
4. Spread your quinola mix on about 4 trays (you want it about 1.5cms thick maximum to ensure quick cooking. Cook for 30 minutes (or until almost crunchy and dry), stirring every 5-10 minutes to avoid any burning.
5. Then combine the remaining later add-ins in the same pan (because there's no point dirtying two pots!) and spread evenly across the quinola. stirring in to avoid the dried fruit and coconut flakes burning.
6. Allow this to cook for a further 15 minutes (stirring every 5 minutes to avoid any burning).
7. Remove from the oven and allow the quinola mix to cool on the trays before transferring to glass jars and storing for up to 3 weeks (for optimal freshness; or you can freeze for a few months for later use).
Bonus tip: if you like "clusters" add through one or two whisked eggs (for non-vegans) in your initial quinola mix to help the mixture get some clumps.
Enjoy in a bowl served with some fresh berries, fruit, nut butter, or go commando. It's good enough to do that. Serve with almond milk, coconut milk, or if you are like me (which some people in my house have decided to point out is a little weird...) serve with cold water!! Yes water. The quinola has enough flavour and goodies on it that when the water goes on it the water absorbs a chocolatey flavour. You can even eat this dry for snacks too (perfect to chuck in your bag for go to emergency snacks whilst out and about).
Like this? Let me know below and share it round.
With Love,
Cat Elliott