Breakfast of Champions - Grain Free Granola

I grew up eating my mom's granola.

It is great.

But after recently endeavoring to give up grains, I stopped making it. And, after so many breakfasts of eggs, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, and the occasional green smoothie, you start to crave something more. Something a bit crunchy, a bit sweet, a bit . . . cerealy. So what to do? I didn't want to back down and make my original recipe with oats, as I was feeling better with reduced grain intake, but I wanted to help curb that craving for something crunchy. With inspiration from Carrie's recent grain-free granola recipe I decided to take it on, but to make it a bit more like my old favorite. And the result? Quite a success! My husband and son LOVE it sprinkled over granola. It is my two year old's new favorite snack. And frankly, it tastes so much like the original, you won't even miss the grains!

Grain Free Granola
makes 2 Quarts

2 cups almonds
2 cups walnuts
1 cup pumpkin or sunflower seeds
1 cup dried fruit of your choice, chopped into bite size pieces
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/3 cup sesame seeds, optional
1/2 stick butter or coconut oil or combination of both
1/4 cup brown sugar or muscovado sugar or maple syrup
1/4 cup honey
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a food processor, place the 2 cups of almonds and pulse a few times until they are chopped up. Some pieces will be much finer than others, which is what you want. Those little, fine pieces will remind you more of what granola is supposed to feel like (i.e. mimics a cereal grain in texture) while the big chunks are welcome as well. Pour almonds into a large mixing bowl. Do the same thing with the walnuts. Add the remaining seeds, fruit and coconut to the bowl and mix well.

In the meantime, combine butter, sugar and honey over heat until combined. Take off heat and stir in vanilla.

Pour the hot liquid into the nut mixture and stir well until evenly combined and all pieces are coated.

Pour the granola out onto a greased, walled cookie sheet and spread out to an even layer. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until you can smell the nuts roasting. When done, remove and allow to briefly cool on the cookie sheet before decanting into your preferred storage jar while still warm, taking care not to allow it to cool completely on the cookie sheet as it can stick.

We love this stirred into yogurt, on top of oatmeal or even mixed into a sweet loaf of bread for extra crunch! Our favorite fruit and nut combinations include almonds and dried cranberries, and dried apples and pecans. Ina recently showed a combination of dried apricots and dates with pecans, which I might have to try next time, but use what you love and what you have on hand!

Enjoy!

This post is written in conjunction with Real Food Wednesday. Please go check out the other contributors!