Granola is one of our favourite additions to our weekly meal prep. It’s high in fiber, so it’s filling, making it a great breakfast or snack. And it can be made in large quantities and last for a good few weeks. It is also simple to make and really doesn’t need fancy ingredients to be delicious. It is now a staple in our house, and you should make it a staple in yours!
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Granola, with yogurt and berries is one of my favourite breakfasts. I’ve struggled a lot with my weight over the last decade. So learning to start my day with a filling, satisfying, and nutritious meal has really helped with getting my weight back in order. (I’m still working on that, but getting healthy is a long process. Not a quick and easy fix, despite what fad diets tell us!) It also makes for a really good mid afternoon snack. Mike will regularly bring some berries, yogurt and granola to work as a snack. And he finds it is a great way to get him through his afternoon.
I had never made granola at home before about a year ago. Not really for any reason, but simply because it hadn’t occurred to me as a meal. Again, I don’t no why. Possibly because when you aren’t trying to lose weight in a healthy way, good quality foods don’t always make it into the meal prep. Either way, it was a real game changer once I started making it.
Since maple season this year, we’ve been adding maple syrup to a lot of foods. It was our first year tapping our own trees, which means we now have much more syrup in the house then in the past. It’s such a treat! I will eventually do a post about making your own maple syrup. It just didn’t feel right to do one in our first year. More experience required! For this recipe though I would really recommend using true, good quality maple syrup. Really for any maple recipe you should try your best to use real syrup. But I know it can be hard to find for some people.
Oat Varieties
Choosing your oats can sometimes be tricky as well. When I first started looking into granola recipes over a year ago, they always called for very specific oats. And yes, some oats are better than others for their structural integrity or for their texture, don’t panic if you can’t find the exact type. I have very happily made granola with quick oats and minute oats because that was all I had available. Lately I’ve been able to find large flake oats and so have started using those, but again, don’t worry if you can’t find those. No one should be denied the tastiness of granola just because your local shop doesn’t have a specific oat variety!
A popular addition to granola is dried fruit. I haven’t added any to ours mostly because it increases the sugar content and I’m still watching my calorie and sugar intake. But adding dried cranberries, or raisins is a really yummy thing to do. If you have some dried fruit in your pantry and you love it then please add as much as you’d like. Quick tip, from experience, don’t add the dried fruit until after you’ve finished baking the granola! The fruit becomes as hard as pebbles if you bake it, so learn from my mistakes!
This recipe makes about 6 cups of granola. I store ours in an airtight container in the pantry and it’s good for about 8 weeks. I imagine it would last even longer, but we’ve usually eaten through it by then!
If you’re looking for another great meal prep idea try this Pork & Ramen Miso Soup.
Maple Almond Granola
Ingredients
- 5 cups Large Flake Oats
- 1 cup Silvered Almonds
- 1/4 cup Sunflower Seeds No Shells
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/4 cup Sunflower Oil
- 1/4 cup Maple Syrup
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 300F.
- Combine the oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.
- Drizzle the sunflower oil and maple syrup over the dry ingredients. Stir thoroughly until everything is coated in both.
- Spread the mixture evenly over a baking tray. Bake for about 35 minutes, stirring once or twice throughout. Everything should be golden and crisp and delicious.
- Allow to cool fully, and store in an airtight container for up to 8 weeks.
LizaLeigh
