Friday, October 25, 2013

Quinoa Maple Granola


Currently I am kind of unable to eat, thanks to a wisdom tooth removal on Thursday. Consequence nr. 1 of this is that I am actually kind of really grumpy, and walk around with the urge to punch people in the face so that they have swollen faces, too. (I get really hangry, sorry for that). And Nr. 2: I do some cooking nonetheless, preparing things I'll be able to eat once I can open my mouth again. Case in point: This granola.


I am not usually one to plan that much ahead when it comes to Christmas presents, but I made this not only to have something to cook today, but also because I wanted to give this recipe I came up with a test-run before preparing it for my friends in December. This urge to try a new granola recipe (not the urge to punch people) rose in me after seeing Melissa's granola two days ago and then reading on food52 about how to get really clumpy granola. I combined recipes, also remembering the müesli Talley posted quite a while ago, and this is how I ended up with this mixture. And unlike with Deb's recipe (it is in her book), I actually ended up with big clumps in my granola. Yay.
This is not a one bowl quick situation though.  You need different bowls to soak the quinoa, whisk the egg white and melt the coconut oil. And it actually requires to process the oats in a food processor to ensure maximum sticking power.

It is all worth it in the end, and if you make a big batch of granola in one go, you'll have quite a few breakfasts taken care of until you need to repeat the whole process again.

Quinoa Maple Granola

2/3 cup water
1 cup quinoa
4 cups oats
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 1/2 cup walnuts (or pecans, or a mix of both)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cardamom
1 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup ground flax seed
6 tbsp unrefined coconut oil
1 egg white

First, add the quinoa to a bowl, bring the water to a boil, pour the water over the quinoa, cover with a plate and set aside for 30 minutes.














Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a food processor, slighly process the oats, until you have some fine pieces between the regular sized oat flakes. You don't want to end up with oat flour, though. Add the processed oats to a large mixing bowl. Add in the sunflower seeds and the coconut, chop the walnuts into smallish pieces and add them to the bowl, too, together with the salt, cardamom and flax seed.
In a small saucepan, melt the coconut oil, and stir it, together with the maple syrup, into the dry ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy. Stir the quinoa into the granola mixture, then add the frothy egg white and mix well.

Distribute the granola mixture evenly on the two baking sheets. Make sure to press the granola down with your spatula and keep it nice and tight.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until the granola is golden and toasty. If you have an old gas oven like mine, which has the amazing feature of having bottom heat only, you probably want to bake this granola on the top rack of the oven, that way you don't have to stir the granola, and end up with big chunks of granola that you can break up into the size you want them to be.


5 comments :

  1. Oh that looks awesome. I never thought of using quinoa for granola before but it would add a nice boost of protein and fewer carbs than using oats. Hm. I'm going to have to try this!

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    1. Thanks, Kara. I guess using quinoa in the granola might help with feeling full longer. I havent timed it or anything, it is just a guess. Let me know if you give it a try!

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  2. This looks great. I think sometime long long ago when I followed health-fitness blogs I used to see a recipe for quinoa granola floating around the internet. I always liked how it looked, just because it seemed to give the most crunch and clump to granola. Yours looks pretty perfect. Hope you get well soon, and can start eating some real food again! I despised getting my wisdom teeth out, but I DID eat a lot of ben and jerry's ice cream without any guilt, so that was pretty nice haha.

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    1. Thank you, Amy! I am actually back to eating already, but I did enjoy lots of fruit smoothies and a Starbucks frappucchino with lots of whipped cream. And regarding the granola, I dont quite get how it is considered a health food. I mean there is not a huge amount of sugar in there, but it is still a lot sweeter than I would ever make my bircher müesli. I can bring you some of the granola if you want.

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  3. Your granola looks and sounds delicious. I love making my own granola, so I'm always up for trying a new variation. I'd never figured out how to get it clumpy though, so I'm definitely giving this a try. Also, I had never thought of giving bags of my home made granola as Christmas presents but that is a great idea, so thanks for the inspiration. Hope you are able to eat normally again soon.

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