Ultimate Granola for '11

I know, i've been M.I.A. I assure you though, I'm alive and kicking. I am totally holiday-ed out. No more lindt chocolates, no more cookies in shapes of...whatever and please no more holiday music in the mall!

I am back fresh with a killer quinoa granola recipe. I cannot take credit for locating this delicious piece of scrumptiousness - my good friend Talia stumbled across this and made it last week and I just had to whip up my own batch.

Did she say quinoa in granola? Sure did. I was feeling even more wild this week after I whipped up a batch of this granola that I made some greek yogurt to have with it. Very easily, I put regular plain 2% yogurt in a paper coffee filter and sat it on top of a bowl. Almost immediately about 1/4 cup of water drained from it and after about an hour, the yogurt was delicious and thick. I enjoyed it with my granola and a few dark chocolate chips on top. Practically Guiltless!

It made a big batch which I assumed would last about 6 years but unfortunately it's only lasted a few days. Doh.

Here is the granola recipe which was adapted from the cookbook: Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfood

Ultimate Granola

2.5 cups oats (I used Old Fashioned but you could use Quick Oats)

3/4 cup whole unsalted almonds

1/2 cup unsalted pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seeds

1/4 cup sesame seeds (I found brown ones! Eureka!)

1/3 quinoa uncooked (yes, uncooked)

1/4 cup flaked unsweetened coconut

1/4 cup walnut pieces

1 cup maple syrup (I cut this down to ½ Cup and it still tasted sweet)

1 t vanilla extract

2 t cinnamon

1/3 cup dried cranberries (I used a mixture of dried cranberries & dried cherries – my favourite)

1/3 chopped dried apples

 Measure the oats, almonds,  pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, quinoa, coconut and walnuts in a large bowl.  Mix well.

 Combine the maple syrup and vanilla in other bowl.  Add the syrup mixture to the oat mixture and stir. Sprinkle the cinnamon on top of the mixture and blend well.

 Spread on a baking sheet (I did mine on 2 baking sheets) and bake at 225 degrees for an hour.

 Remove and toss in dried cranberries/cherries and dried apples.