em + the kitchen - honey almond quinoa granola.

I've been playing with the idea of making my own granola for a while now. There are so many good recipes out there and they all seem to be fairly simple. When I stumbled upon this recipe while checking out new food blogs, I knew it would be the one that finally made me take the leap. I already had all of the ingredients and it combined carbs with a healthy dose of protein, thanks to the quinoa and chia seeds. Perfect for a healthy boost in the morning!

Side note: when did I become the type of person who has chia seeds and coconut oil readily available? Ha.

This particular granola is sweet without being overly so and has a great earthy flavor, thanks to the uncooked quinoa.
It also makes great gifts! I packaged some of it up with a "Happy Fall, y'all!" tag for the ladies who work at the yoga center I frequent.

Okay, seriously, I'm going to stop before I out-hippie myself.
Yoga. Granola. Chia seeds.
Let's do this.

Honey Almond Quinoa Granola

Ingredients:
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup roughly chopped almonds
1 tbsp chia seeds
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg white (optional, helps hold granola together)

Preheat oven to 325*.

In a large bowl, stir together oats, quinoa, almonds, chia seeds, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
In a separate bowl, whisk coconut oil, honey, vanilla, salt, and egg white together until fully combined. I used a large measuring cup for this so I didn't have to dirty 2 containers.

Pour wet mixture over dry and stir until completely coated.
Evenly spread mixture out over cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and fragrant. Stir halfway through if you decide to leave out the egg white. If you used egg white, leave alone during the baking process.

Let cool completely before breaking into pieces and storing in an airtight container.

I've enjoyed this particular granola over yogurt and, if I'm being totally honest, by the handful.
-e.