Ancient Grains Granola

Last summer, the espresso house down the street started offering a breakfast special: homemade granola with steamed milk and a shot of espresso on the side. I promised myself that when I had a morning to myself, I would sit there and enjoy what sounded like a beautiful breakfast. Summer came and went, and now March break is at its end, and I have not yet been for breakfast at the espresso house. Maybe one day ..

But I did manage to check the last thing off my March bread to-do list: make apple sauce granola. I mixed up the original recipe a little by using a few ancient grains -- spelt and kamut flakes -- mixed in with the good rolled oats. I replaced the oil with a few spoons of apple butter, (and by the way if you haven't discovered apple butter yet, go find it! It replaces oil and sugar at the same time! Brilliant!) and added sesame seeds, a few chopped pecans and a handful of millet for a little extra crunch. The ancient grains really give this granola a hearty, nutty, toasty flavour, and the kamut flakes pack quite a mighty crunch factor.


This afternoon, I considered heating up some milk to go along with the granola in an attempt to imitate the espresso house special, but ultimately, I opted instead to just have it with a huge splash of skim soy and a nice cup of toasted almond flavoured coffee (beans purchased at one of our coffee passport favourites: Moonbean Cafe) on the side. A perfect, beautiful lunch enjoyed on my last day of March break.

Ancient Grains Granola
adapted from Everybody Likes Sandwiches

1 cup of rolled oats
1 cup of kamut flakes
1 cup of spelt flakes
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
a pinch each of cardamom and nutmeg
1/4 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes
1 big handful of sesame seeds
1 big handful of millet or quinoa
1/4 cup of chopped pecans
1/2 cup of raisins
1/2 cup of dried cranberries

1 cup of applesauce
2 tablespoons of apple butter
1 tablespoon of maple syrup

1. Toss all the dry ingredients, except for the raisins and cranberries, in a large bowl until things are equally distributed.

2. Add the applesauce, apple butter or maple syrup. Using a spatula (or your hands!) mix everything together really well.

3. Bake in a 325 degree oven for about 45 minutes, tossing every 15 minutes or so, until the mixture gets golden brown and crunchy. Remove from the oven and immediately toss in the raisins and cranberries. Leave it to cool overnight.

4. Enjoy!