Easy Homemade Granola

As they say, necessity breeds innovation! I went to make my daily yogurt bowl today and found to my despair that I was out of granola. (Well, I left myself a few measly crumbs in the bag thinking I was being generous to my future self). Sooo I looked further to the back of my cabinet and decided to make granola with what I had on hand! Might still make a few tweaks to it, but overall it got the job done and was pretty tasty!

Ingredients:

• 2.5 cups plain rolled oats

• 1/2 cup whole raw almonds

• 2-3 Tbs. Flax Meal

• 1/4 - 1/3 cup of natural peanut butter (or other nut/seed butter)

• 1/4 cup honey

• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

• cinnamon to taste

Steps:

• measure out and mix together your oats, almonds, and flax.

• warm up the pb and honey to mix together and then add in vanilla. pour the runny warm mixture over your oats/almonds/flax.

• lay out over a baking sheet and bake at 325°F for 15min; then stir and bake for another 5 min.

• I added cinnamon to taste at the end!

Functional benefits:

• pre-biotic fiber from the oats and flax that feeds the good bacteria in our gut

• healthy fats from flax, almonds, and nut butter. *flax especially contain high amounts alpha-linolenic acid which is beneficial for cardio and brain health

• antioxidants from honey and anti-inflammatory properties from cinnamon and honey

• lower glycemic load from honey (versus cane sugar) and combo of fat and protein

Notes:

• I would add more pb or coconut oil or ghee next time for a more glossy texture and to stick together better

• Option to add coconut shreds, pumpkin seeds, cacao nibs for extra delish!