My uncle Greg is into health and fitness.  He has completed a “century” bike ride (100 miles) in all 50 states AND a marathon in all 50 states.  I’m serious.  This is a thing.  I believe he is the only person who has done both.  If you know someone who has too, I think they should meet.

In addition to spending a lot of time running and riding, he pulled together a great granola recipe that my grandmother loved and raved about.  She is no longer with us, but this granola recipe lives on in our family. I make it all the time and love that it is totally customizable with what happens to be in the pantry.

Make it a few times and then start riffing to craft your own granola mix.  I did and what you will find here is an easy, refined sugar free, gluten free, high protein, easy to make nutritious breakfast.  To make sure this is fast and easy, I have a little Game Show fun and race to pull it all together in the time it takes the oven to pre-heat to 325°.

Mix in Order, in a large pot or bowl:

6 C. old fashioned oats

1 Tbs. cinnamon

1 C. silvered Almonds

1 C. chopped hazelnuts

1 C. chopped walnuts

(3 C. total of any variety of nuts you like. Cashews are a favorite in my granola)

1 C. sunflower seeds

1/3 C. sesame seeds

Mix it all up and then add:

1 C. Maple Syrup

1/3 C. melted coconut oil

1 Tbs. vanilla

(I usually mix all these wet ingredients together and then add it to the dry mix)

Mix well and spread evenly over two baking sheets that have a rim. (9 X 12 cake pans work too).

Bake at 325° for 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven, stir it around and put it back in for another 10 minutes. Repeat one more time (for a total of 30 minutes baking). Stir well between baking. Remove and spread out on wax or parchment paper. Then, stir in:

1-2 C. dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, etc)

1 C. shredded coconut

Let it cool and store it in a big glass container in the pantry.

I enjoy mine with either almond milk or whole fat plain yogurt.