Grain-Free Granola!

Going grain-free often hurts most at breakfast – weekday mornings can be too busy for bacon and eggs, and we need something fast to grab for. How about granola and coconut milk! Nuts are not no-carb, but this recipe is low-carb, especially if you are careful to use unsweetened dried berries. I like Goji berries best – low sugar, and they have medicinal action to help your body deal better with stress – win!

This will make a very large batch of granola, enough to last about a month.

Ingredients:
two bags of sliced almondsӬ
plus 3-5 bags of your favorite nutsӬor seeds Рi like brazile and mac nuts,
1-2 containers/bags of thick-shredded coconut
unsweetened dried berries if desired
coconut oil
honey

Mix everything in a bowl (I usually need two big bowls) except the dried berries – they will have a weird texture if you bake them.
Pour in about a quarter cup of honey and about one cup of coconut oil (www.nutiva.com is my favorite source). You might want to warm the coonut oil if it’s solid, to make it easier to pour. If you used two bowls, divide the amount between the bowls.

If you used unsalted nuts, add some sea salt to the mix, and stir until everything is coated (not soaking, just coated). add more coconut oil or honey as needed.

Turn the mixture into pyrex baking dishes and bake at 350 for 20-40 minutes, depending on your oven. Stir every ten minutes or so. When it looks “toasted”, it’s done. Some people like “toasted” to be toastier than others – just take it out when it looks good to you.

While it’s baking, add dried fruit to the mixing bowl – unsweetened, unsulphured dried berries are best. When the nuts come out of the oven and are still good and hot, dump the nuts&coconut back into the mixing bowl(s) with the fruit and stir well. (you might need to divide it between two bowls now to accommodate the addition of fruit and the stirring.)
Leave it to cool; I usually cover it loosely with a towel. Scoop it out of the bowl into a reasonably airtight container – I use glass candy-shop jars with glass or wooden lids. It can be tricky to scoop out because the honey makes it a little sticky, but it’s worth it!