I haven’t been that successful in my eating habits the past few weeks. I have been indulging in chocolate (it just seems to be everywhere in the office), burgers (a lot of burgers) and where there are burgers there are also fries, onion rings, bread and beer. So, yesterday I dedicated a good portion of the day to the kitchen, where I created some Paleo friendly snacks.

In looking at the official definition of granola, I am wondering if this dish can even be called granola, since it doesn’t consist of rolled oats, but I promise you, once you taste it, you won’t miss them. When you see all the nuts, seeds and coconut, rolled oats will be the furthest thing from your mind.

I first tasted this at my in-laws. Laura had made a batch of it, and offered it to us for breakfast. I took one bite and was hooked. I needed the recipe. So, I pulled out my smartphone, snapped a picture of the recipe and filed it away to make at a later date. Well, that later date was yesterday!

I picked up all the ingredients I needed (and was more than pleasantly surprised when I discovered pumpkin seeds at the grocery store) and set out to make my own version of Laura’s granola. The original recipe calls for slivered almonds and other nuts to be in pieces, but we only have whole nuts, so I threw them into a bag and used my meat tenderizer to break all the nuts into pieces. Hey, where there is a will, there is a way!

I added pecans into the mix because we had them and pecans are delicious! 🙂

As a sweetener I used maple syrup. I only used half of what the recipe recommended, because roasted nuts on their own are amazing, they don’t really need much, if any, additional flavour. But I realize that traditional granola does have a sweetness factor so a couple of tablespoons of maple syrup made an appearance. Adding maple syrup instead of the sugar-free sweetener that was recommended also allows me to class this as Paleo friendly.

When the ‘granola’ came out of the oven, it was a gorgeous colour. The maple syrup caramelized over the nuts and seeds creating and intoxicating scent and inviting appearance. As far as taste, well, just take a look at the ingredients. If you like all the ingredients on their own, they will be amazing when they are tossed together.

We ate this on its own; however, if you are looking as a cereal substitute, you could throw a bit of this in a bowl and eat it with some homemade almond milk. Who said that Paleo meant you couldn’t have a bowl of ‘cereal’?

I hope you enjoy my new favourite go-to snack. What is your favourite healthy snack alternative?

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Adapted from:
Wheat Belly
William Davis MD

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted cashews pieces
• 1 cup unsalted pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup almond pieces
• 1/2 cup pecan pieces
• 2 tbsp whole brown flaxseeds
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. In bowl, combine nuts, seeds, coconut and cinnamon.  Once combined add in the coconut oil and maple syrup.
3. Mix well to coat.
4. Spread mixture on baking sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Stir all ingredients on the baking sheet and bake for another 10 minutes.
5. Remove from oven.  Once cooled, store in a sealed container (I prefer a mason jar).
6. You will likely start making this on a regular basis – it is addictive 🙂