Gluten Free Granola

Are you missing your granola? I sure am. It's delicious for breakfast, snacking on while watching TV and great for people on the go. It adds crunch to desserts, sliced fruit, and even berries. Sadly, one of the foods diabetics, those avoiding gluten, and those who diet the low carb way miss out on is granola. While some with celiac can tolerate a bit of oatmeal, I cannot. Oatmeal and any oats make me very sick.

I love granola, though. I couldn't bear my morning bowl of fruit without it. And it's a delicious cereal and snack food. So I devised a plan to get it back and make it healthier. So, for this recipe you will need: organic raw coconut oil, raw dried nuts (almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, or anything you like, I'm allergic to peanuts and they are not as healthy as other tree nuts), raw seeds (pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, etc), coconut flour (not toasted, or cooked and still has the oil in it), and freeze dried fruit such as cranberries, blueberries or other favorites. (dried raisins are optional.)
Some stevia, raw honey, maple syrup, OR agave syrup.

Other optional ingredients include cacao nibs, dark chocolate chips, ground cinnamon, cocoa powder, chili powder, cayenne pepper powder or flakes, or other spices or flavors you might enjoy.

Once you have your chosen ingredients gathered you will need:

2 cups chopped raw nuts (your choice of mixture)

2 cups chopped raw seeds (your choice of mixture)

1 cup coconut flour

½ cup coconut oil divided

½ cup raw and natural syrup (or amount of stevia stated on stevia conversion guide on the box)

1 cup chopped dried/freeze dried fruit mixture of your choice

1 teaspoon red sea salt

½ cup chocolate chips or up to 1 tablespoon cacao nibs

About 1 teaspoon flavoring of your choice

¼ cup fresh ground flax seeds (optional)

In a large bowl mix the nuts, seeds, coconut flour, and half the coconut oil. If you wish to have a toasted flavor, put this mixture in the oven, spread out on a cookie sheet on about 250 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes to toast your nuts. If you don't want them pre-toasted, skip this and move on to the next step.

Next, add the dried fruit and the rest of the coconut oil. Add the sweetener of choice and seasoning of your choice (leave out the chocolate chips until after the mixture has cooled.) Spread this mixture onto a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 to 15 minutes. Check it often and stir it occasionally to prevent burning. Remove from oven when it begins to toast or smells toasty. While it is still hot, dust lightly with the red sea salt.

Allow this to cool until it has set up. Mix in chocolate chips and flax seeds, if desired, once it is completely cooled and store the mixture in a sealed container for up to a month, or in the freezer for several months.

If you would prefer a raw granola, mix all the ingredients together at once and simply put this mixture on a wax paper lined cookie sheet and place in the freezer for about an hour. Remove it when it has set to hard and brittle. Crumble this mixture up into a sealed container and freeze. Keep it frozen until ready to use.

Breakfast/Granola Bars

Alternately, a double batch can be made and a little more coconut oil and sweetener can be used than the recipe calls for. This can be spread, like making rice crispy treats, onto a wax paper lined pan and either frozen or baked like the granola above. Once the mixture has either cooled or hardened, it can be cut into narrow bars and individually wrapped in wax paper or snack-sized zipper bags and kept frozen until ready to eat. These make delicious, satisfying, and energizing snacks, post work out treats, or on the go breakfast nutrition.

The coconut oil and flour actually help improve metabolism, glucose levels, and leptin and cortisol levels. The mixture of nutritionally dense nuts, seeds, and dried fruit blow other granola and energy bars right out of the competition. I have used these bars and granola to improve my weight loss when dieting.