If you follow me on Facebook, you may have seen these status updates in the last few months:
Granola and I have had a very complicated relationship.
For the last four months, I have been studying recipes, trying recipes, and throwing out recipes.
Batch 1 was flimsy. Flimsy! It reminded me of David Sedaris’s dad’s carrots in “Me Talk Pretty One Day”. There was no crunch when Manatee would chew it. It succumbed without any resistance. “It’s supposed to crunch!” I yelled. “I like it,” Manatee argued as he pulled at the pieces of granola glued to his teeth.
Batch 2 was still soft, then burnt, then inedible.
Batch after batch, I tried.
Batch after batch, Manatee ate it, doggedly refusing to let the ingredients to to waste.
Batch after batch began to wear me down.
Batch 6 was the final straw. I had adapted a recipe that was supposed to make granola bars. I had wanted large chunks of granola so this seemed promising. It was looking good until I went to cut them. The pieces crumbled before my eyes.
I believe I shed some tears and shoveled the crumbly remains into two quart containers, planning to pass them off to my unsuspecting parents who were coming for a visit the next day.
I passed off one quart and kept one for myself.
A few nights later I was looking for a night-time snack and decided to sprinkle the reject granola over a sliced banana.
As I began to chew, I realized something. This was actually pretty good.
I called my parents and asked if they had tried it. Not only had they tried it, they had already finished it.
Eureeka!
Granola Criteria
When creating my recipe, I had some requirements.
It must include quinoa.
It must include nut butter.
It must be dairy-free and gluten-free.
It must have as much protein as possible with as little sugar as possible.
At first, I was also determined to get big chunks in the granola. Once I made peace with not having a super chunky granola, the world was a better place.
Badger Girl Granola 6.0
Base:
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 1/2 cups slivered and/or sliced almonds
1/2 cup raw quinoa, rinsed
1/4 cup flaxseed
Glaze:
2 tablespoons coconut oil, more for greasing
1/3 cup agave nectar
Mix-Ins:
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup craisins
1/4 finely shredded coconut
Binder:
1/2 cup nut butter
1/4 cup protein powder
Preheat the oven to 325 and grease one large rimmed baking sheet.
In a large bowl, mix together the ingredients for the base.
Oats, Pumpkin Seeds, Quinoa, Sunflower Seeds, and Flaxseeds
Add Sliced and Slivered Almonds
Heat glaze in a small saucepan until coconut oil is melted. Drizzle over base ingredients and mix together. Spread onto prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Stir occasionally so that it bakes evenly.
While it’s baking, mix together binder ingredients.
Protein Powder and Nut Butter.
Protein Powder and Nut Butter Mixed
You will also want to clean the bowl from earlier and grease an 8 1/2 by 11 rectangular cake pan.
Remove oat mixture from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Move into a large bowl and mix in the add-ins.
Mix-in ingredients: finely shredded coconut, craisins, and raisins
Add Craisins, Raisins, and Coconut to the Oat Mixture
Stir until combined.
Add Binder ingredients.
Add Nut Butter and Protein Powder to Oat Mixture.
You may need to use your hands to get it fully mixed together.
Press into prepared cake pan.
Let cool for 1-8 hours.
©Kimberly Aime, 2012
Recipe Review:
It was worth the wait.
I love eating it plain or over sliced bananas. Manatee has been treating it as cereal and eating it with some un-sweetened almond milk. This is our new must-have food.
Notes on variations:
The protein powder is optional. You really don’t need it. For us, it was just another way to sneak in some protein. I use a vegetable soy protein with no chemicals and that doesn’t have any taste or aftertaste. Works for us but may not be for everyone.
You really should make this granola according to your own tastes. Really. I purposefully set up in sections so you could modify to your little heart’s desire. Try to maintain the ratios and the measurements within each section (Base, Binder, Glaze, Mix-Ins). So let’s say you think I am totally weird for adding quinoa, simply omit the quinoa and add the half cup in another ingredient, maybe more oats or seeds.
We recently subbed in some coconut flakes for some of the almonds and have subbed in chia seeds for flaxseeds. Both were delicious. The possibilities are truly endless.
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What do you like in your granola?
Eureka and Congratulations! What a great recipe. I know it was worth the wait… even though getting here was hard for you.
Well done. 
Ramona recently posted..Chicken Salad with Mango Chutney
This sounds fab! I too have been on an extended granola experimentation. Mine is pretty similar to yours except that I have never tried mixing in nut butter at the end, post-baking. I do add protein powder. Does the nut butter stop it from being crunchy? My other tip is to use fruit juice instead of agave nectar as a glaze when baking: I use a mix of coconut oil, tahini and apple juice. More protein, less sugar. I also brown the oats and other grains for a while before I put the nuts in. You can also use whole buckwheat groats. Thanks for all your ideas. I cant wait to try them!
Haha, Manatee sounds like my dad – no matter how much of a failure a recipe seems to be, he refuses to let my mom and I throw it out. The man will eat anything.
I’m loving all of the things you put in your granola. Sounds like this was definitely one of those “good mistakes”!
Ha! I have been on a similar quest for granola with most of the same characteristics forever! I haven’t been nearly as persistent with my efforts, though. Congratulations on your granola achievement! I cannot wait to try your recipe!
Rachel recently posted..French toast with strawberries and goat cheese
I love home made granola, and made some this week too
! Yours sounds delicious and I love everything that went into it…especially the coconut because I think the best granolas have it! Congrats on the Top 9 
!
Wow, that’s the healthiest granola recipe I’ve ever seen and looks yummy, congrats! I’ve pretty much given up on granola, maybe this will make me take another look. I used to use my grandma’s recipe, which I loved, but which was incredibly high calorie. After I used it as cereal for a while and gained a bunch of weight on it, I hung up the granola recipe. Using it as a mere garnish sounds lot more doable. Just pinned this to my Recipes to Try on Pinterest- thanks!
Mary @ Fit and Fed recently posted..Homemade Vegan Nutella
Made your granola! My husband says it’s AMAZING and our stash is disappearing rapidly. My vow to use the granola as a topping on yogurt as opposed to just chowing large bowls of it has also disappeared. I’ll get up a post soon with a mention and a link back here to your recipe. The only things I did differently were to add a couple Tbsp. of coconut oil to the binder and use chopped dried cherries instead of raisins and craisins. The nut butter I used was my own homemade almond butter which isn’t as oily as commercial nut butter, that’s why I needed to add a little more oil.
Mary @ Fit and Fed recently posted..Are Those Eggs Really Free Range? Why it’s Important, for the Hens and for You
OK, the post talking about your granola (and a few other things we made) with a link back here to your recipe is up, thanks for sharing your hard-won granola-making skills!
Mary @ Fit and Fed recently posted..What We Made this Week: Granola, Raspberry Oatmeal, Canary Melon Smoothie
Can’t wait to try this!!
Does your website have a contact page? I’m having a tough time locating it but, I’d like
to send you an e-mail. I’ve got some recommendations for your blog you might be interested in hearing. Either way, great blog and I look forward to seeing it improve over time.
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