Healthy Cranberry Almond Granola

This morning while on the treadmill (doing this intense workout) I started to feel inspired to do a little damage in the kitchen. I wasn’t quite sure what damage I was was going to do, but I decided it had to have these three things:

• something I’ve never tried making before
• something I could eat for breakfast
• something that I could “healthify”

The winning result…?

Cranberry Almond “Healthified” Granola!! (see full recipe below)

Surprisingly, it was much easier to make than I expected, so let’s get right down to it…

First, I mixed some old-fashioned oats and puffed rice cereal and toasted it for about 10 minutes in the oven.

While that was toasting, I mixed together my wet ingredients & spices. I was actually quite excited to find another way to incorporate some more of my POM Wonderful juice!

Once the oats & cereal were slightly toasted, I put it back into a bowl and mixed in some slivered almonds,

ground flaxseed meal,

and chia seeds.

Stir, stir, stir!

Once incorporated, I added in my wet ingredients and mixed until everything was nice and covered.

Then I placed it back on the baking sheet and cooked it for another 15 or so minutes, stirring every few minutes.

After the granola base was done cooking, I put it back into the bowl and added in my dried fruits: cranberries & raisins.

VOILA! A big ‘ol bowl of granola for the taking.

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Healthy Cranberry Almond Granola

(Adapted from this Weight Watchers recipe)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups uncooked oats
• 2 cups puffed rice cereal
• 1/3 cup brown rice syrup
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1/4 cup(s) diluted POM Wonderful juice**
• 1-2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed meal
• 1/4 chia seeds
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup raisins

**I used probably 1/8 cup POM + 1/8 cup water. You could also substitute apple juice or any other juice of your choice for the POM. It’s just what I had on hand.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix uncooked oats and puffed rice cereal together and spread on a non-stick baking sheet with sides; bake for 10 minutes, stirring once.
2. Meanwhile, mix brown rice syrup, oil, POM juice, spices, sugar, and vanilla together in a cup. When oats and puffed rice are done, spoon into a large bowl; set pan aside. Add almonds, flaxseed, and chia seeds to cereal mixture and stir to combine. Pour wet ingredients over cereal mixture and mix thoroughly to distribute and coat completely; spread mixture back over pan.
3. Return pan to oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes more, stirring every few minutes. Remove from oven and spoon back into bowl. (Note: Be careful that granola doesn’t burn – especially cereal along sides of pan.)
4. Stir cranberries and raisins into mixture; let cool. Store in an airtight container. ENJOY!

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For it being my first attempt at granola, I was pretty impressed! It’s not overly sweet, so if you like your granola sweeter, you may want to add a bit more brown sugar or honey.

The great part about it too is, if you don’t have all the same ingredients, just substitute in what you like. No cranberries? Try cherries! No almonds? Try sunflower seeds!

Endless possibilities, my friends. Endless!

I enjoyed quite a few handfuls before finally buckling down and making myself a yogurt + granola bowl, with some fresh strawberries and grapes on the side.

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Thanks to everyone who entered my Chavrie Goat Cheese Giveaway! The following comment numbers are our winners:

• 79 – Ashley
• 28 – Daniel B.
• 37 – Lauren
• 175 – Shari
• 159 – Claire

Congrats!!

Please be sure to email me your shipping info at sweettoothcourtney@gmail.com.

Question for the Day:

What’s the best granola you’ve ever had? (

And if you have any recipes, feel free to SHARE em! I have a feeling that this won’t be my last batch…)

Tagged as: baking, Chavrie giveaway winners, cranberry almond granola, healthy granola recipe, recipe, weight watchers granola