granola — Blog — Tara Allen Health

Is this trail mix or is this granola? Either way, it’s DELICIOUS.

Your home is going to smell AMAZING while this is in the oven. Warning: it’s addicting. Be sure to exercise portion control with this healthy snack.

Trail Mix Granola

Ingredients:

1 cup raw mixed nuts (walnuts, pecans, cashews, hazelnuts)
1 cup raw slivered almonds
½ cup pumpkin or sunflower seeds
¼ cup coconut oil, melted
¼ cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup unsweetened flaked coconut
1 cup dried cherries, blueberries or cranberries
¼ tsp sea salt
(optional: 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice)

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and line 1 or 2 baking sheets (depending on their size) with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, mix the nuts, almonds and pumpkin seeds. Set aside.

3. In a small bowl, combine the coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Pour over the nuts and mix well. Add the optional pumpkin pie spice and mix again, till everything is evenly coated.

4. Spread the nuts on the baking sheet(s) and sprinkle salt over the top of the mixture. Bake for 15 minutes.

5. Remove from the oven and stir the nuts to make sure they toast evenly. Bake for another 15 minutes and remove from the oven. Stir again, adding the coconut flakes. Bake for another 10 minutes to toast the coconut.

6. Remove from the oven for a final time, and let cool. Mix in the berries and serve.

Enjoy!

In good health,

Tara

We set out on a mission to create something new for this weekend. With out-of-state friends coming for a visit (and one with a peanut and tree nut allergy), we decided to venture away from our usual desserts which often have nut flour or nut butter in the mix somewhere.

After seeing the packaged version of this dessert on the store shelves, I decided I would try my hand at my own version. Puffed brown rice with no other ingredients could work as the base and sunflower seed butter would help add flavor. Honey seemed like the perfect option to sweeten and hold it all together.

My first trial-run came out great. So, obviously, I switched it up the real deal. (why?!?!) Actually, I tried to cut corners and didn't freeze them long enough before cutting and they ended up being very crumbly - but still delicious!

These are a bit sweet for me, so I plan to make them again with a lot less honey as a better (and healthier) snack option. They may get a bit crumbly again without as much honey sticking it all together, but I don't mind the granola consistency.

***Note: Make sure to get sunflower seed butter that's not made on shared equipment in a warehouse that also makes nut butters if you're cooking for someone with food allergies. I'm sure you all know that already! :-/ Luckily we looked over the package together first. Although they seemed to be a hit with most, our friend with the allergy was not able to try these. What a silly mistake! Ugh. Live and learn. ;-)

Puffed Rice Treats

(gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free)

Serves 16

Ingredients:

4 cups puffed brown rice

½ cup sunflower seed butter

½ cup raw honey

Directions:

1. Pour puffed rice into a large mixing bowl.

2. In a saucepan on the stove, bring sunflower seed butter and honey to a rolling boil. Remove from heat.

3. Pour sunflower seed/honey into bowl with puffed rice and stir well to combine.

4. Spoon mixture into a pan (8x8 cake pan works well) on top of parchment paper.

5. Using a spatula (or spoon), press down hard to compact mixture.

6. Place in the freezer for 30-60 minutes.

7. Remove and cut into 16 squares. J

Do you plan on making these? They come together in about 5 minutes. Then just freeze for a bit and cut up into squares and you look like you've been working hard all day in the kitchen!

Let me know how yours come out.

In good health,

Tara