Banana Granola

Breakfast this morning – vanilla Greek yogurt, banana granola and a spoonful of blueberry preserves. Yum!

Anytime I start to think about eating healthier breakfasts, I think of granola.  I love the idea of granola – crunchy, earthy and wholesome.  Granola makes me think of nature, of weekends backpacking in the woods, of trees and blue skies…

The finished product.

But do not trust granola, my friends – granola can be deceptive.  Most granola, especially store-bought, is loaded with fat and calories.  So a few months ago, I went on a search for a healthy, tasty homemade granola that I could eat without guilt.

I finally found a recipe that sounded good – no oil, no dried fruits or raisins (I am NOT a fan of raisins).  The oats and nuts are held together by a banana mixture that you whir up in a blender.  No muss, no fuss.  I made it a few times, changing it a bit each time,  until I got it just the way I wanted.

My sister perfers a crunchier granola, so she likes it broken into smaller peices and cooked until it’s all a dark brown.  I like my granola to be a little softer with a chewy center, so I leave it in bigger chunks.  Hey, to each their own, right?

Banana Granola

(Original recipe found here.)

If you consider it 6 servings (3/4 cup each), it’s about 200 calories per serving.  If you’re just using it as a topping on yogurt, you’ll probably get more servings (and consequently, less calories per serving.  Woo hoo!).

• 2 heaping cups rolled oats
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1  1/2 ripe bananas
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• a large pinch of sea salt

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Combine the oats, sunflower seeds and walnuts in a medium size bowl.  Set aside for now.

In a blender, combine the bananas, water, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and sea salt.  Blend until smooth.  It does turn a funny brown color – don’t worry.

Mix the banana mixture into the oat mixture.  Let sit for about 10 minutes – this gives the oats a chance to soak up some of that banana goodness.

Dump the granola onto a cookie sheet and spread it out to make a single layer.  Don’t worry that it looks sort of wet – as it cooks, it will crisp up.

Bake the granola for about 40 minutes.  Every 10 minutes or so, break up the granola with a spatula and toss it around.  Make the granola chunks as large or as small as you wish.  When it’s all brown and crispy, it’s done!

Now I can enjoy healthy granola with a light heart and happy tummy.  What a great way to start the day!

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