Every single morning, I have a toasted English muffin with peanut butter. You’d think I would get sick of having this same thing every morning, but I never do! I look forward to my morning toast and a large cup of tea. But to avoid be extra boring, I try to keep things a bit more interesting with the yogurt I have with my tea & toast. Some mornings I top my yogurt with fresh organic blueberries & walnuts. Other mornings it’s shredded coconut, pineapple chunks and hemp hearts. And some times, I like to make my own granola to use as a topping for my yogurt.
Making granola is a lot of fun – there are so many flavours to experiment with and so many additions you can make. One of my very favourite homemade granola mixes is Pumpkin-Spice Granola with Cranberries & Pecans. You can add dried fruit, nuts of any kind, seeds such as chia, quinoa or pumpkin seeds, toasted grains such puffed brown rice and toasted millet, shredded coconut etc. You can bind and sweeten the granola with various types of natural sugars such as honey, maple syrup or agave syrup. And you can use various spices such as cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg or extracts such as vanilla to flavour the mix.
Since preparing homemade granola is so quick, you can easily make a different type each week and keep breakfast interesting every day. Each batch is good for 3 weeks, as long as it’s sealed in an airtight container.
Here are some other granola ideas:
Maple Pecan Granola – Naturally Ella
Millet & Walnut Granola – West Coast Nest
Cherry Pecan Maple Granola – Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes
Peanut Butter Granola – Once Upon a Cutting Board
Honey Almond Granola – A Couple Cooks
Homemade Müesli – Flavour
Have a fantastic Wednesday. I’ll be back on Friday with some Link Love :)
Ingredients
- 2 cups of organic rolled oats (not quick cooking oats)
- 1 cup of sliced almonds
- 1/2 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
- 2 tablespoons of canola oil
- 4 tablespoons of liquid honey
- pinch of salt
Method
1. Preheat oven to 300’F.
2. In a bowl, toss together the rolled oats, almonds and coconut.
3. In a small saucepan, warm the oil, honey, vanilla and salt over medium-high heat until runny (about 3 minutes). Mix in the ground ginger. Pour honey mixture over the oats & toss to coat.
4. Evenly spread the mixture onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
5. Bake granola in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until nicely golden. Note: you may want to toss/flip the granola after 15 minutes to allow even baking. Be sure to pay attention to the coconut, as it will darken a bit quicker than the oats & almonds.
6. Once nicely golden, let the pan cool on a rack. Crumble the granola with your fingers into small clusters.
Granola can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
Source: slightly adapted from Canadian Living Magazine (May 2012)
i am totally with you on eating the same breakfast every day! i’ve been eating the same bowl of oats for YEARS, and it’s still my favorite meal of the day ;)
i STILL have not tried making granola, but this version looks SO GOOD. and coconut just makes everything better ;)
I am glad I’m not the only one who loves having the same breakfast every day :) Seems like it’s more common than I thought! *hehe*
Homemade granola is so very easy and so much better than store-bought. The coconut and ginger combo is really quite nice. Might be my new favourite! :)
same for me…I am always having the same thing for breakfast. I have to try your granola! I love to have a big bowl of chia seeds…granola and almond milk. It’s always so delicious! I love ginger and coconut…what a great combination!!
Chia seeds, granola and almond milk sounds so tasty! I think I’m going to try that on Monday :)
Loved the ginger and coconut flavour of the granola. I really think it’s my new fav :) A nice and simple granola.
Great job at keeping breakfast interesting. Like you I have the same thing and usually never get tired… Thanks so much for mentioning my homemade muesli…like your granola, you can change it up every time you make it put whatever you want in it! Happy Wednesday love x
Awe, no problem Elaina! I am looking forward to trying the muesli. I love that granola and muesli is such a blank slate and you can change it up based on your mood & cravings every time you make a new batch :)
Mmm – I love love LOVE granola! And you know what? It’s been almost exactly one year since I’ve made it. HOW HAS THIS HAPPENED? You’ve inspired me – granola is on my list! :D
Awe, I’m glad my granola recipe inspired more granola recipes. *hehe* I am trying to get in the habit of making a new batch every two weeks. We’ll see if it sticks. Hah! :)
We have the same exact breakfast habit – i do switch between dark chocolate dreams PB & Cinnamon Raisin Swirl ….I buy PB in bulk on amazon and have automatic bi monthly shipments – so yeah you could say i love my PB and sprouted english muffin…5 days out of the week, on the weekends I change it up a bit, but always with a pot of tea :)
I LOVE making granola- and you are such a SWEETHEART for including my granola recipe link- funny thing too, I have a granola recipe for next week, I am making a batch to bring to my Sis in DC tomorrow! Loving your combination, I have never tried ginger in my granola, I bet it is amazing!
That is awesome. I’ll have to check into getting PB shipped from Amazon too. The chocolate dreams PB sounds amazing. YUM! :) I love my English muffins all toasty with peanut butter. Best way to start the day. *hehe*
Awe, no problem! Your recipe looked great! :) I bet your sister loved getting some homemade granola delivered!
Yum! Love homemade granola…been awhile since I’ve made some! I’m going to have to give your recipe a try! Thanks for sharing my granola recipe Courtney! :)
You are most welcome! I had book marked that granola recipe quite some time ago. It looked so very yummy! :)
I make my own granola occasionally, but I’m always tempted by the specialty kinds from stores, so I don’t make it often enough! Yours sounds like just the type of granola I would love with the coconut and ginger! I change up my breakfasts a bit, but most often its yogurt with granola and sliced banana…although I did have an English muffin with peanut butter this morning!
The ginger and coconut combo is soooo good. I’ve been snacking on the granola all week after work. I should have made a double batch. *hah*
Mmm I don’t think I’ve tried a granola with ginger in it before but your combo sounds like it would work so well! Thanks for including my granola in your link list! :)
No problem! The granola sounded so good! Had to share it :)
And I am so glad I added the ginger to the granola, because it ended up being sooo delicious with the coconut. I’m contemplating adding chopped crystallized ginger next time too to bump up the gingery flavour.
i love the addition of ginger in this! looks absolutely delicious!
Thanks!!! :) It was super duper tasty. Too tasty….. It was supposed to last me two weeks….and barely lasted 5 days because I kept snacking. *HAH*
This sounds like the perfect thing to get me up in the morning! Lately I’ve been having overnight oats everyday, but I might have to change things up and try granola soon. :)
Overnight oats is something on my to-do list for next week. I saw a recipe in Vegetarian Times for chia overnight oats that I MUST make soon. Looks fantastic. Thanks for stopping by Kiersten :)
Oh goodness. This looks delicious. I adore coconut and almonds! I haven’t had granola in so long I think I need to make some tommorrow. I love your combination-I think I will be trying this out tommorrow! Thanks Courtney!!!
Awe, thank you for the lovely note! :) Coconut, almonds and ginger are way too addictive when combined! *hehe*
I love this post and I love love LOVE homemade granola. I’m planning on whipping up a batch this weekend and I’ll definitely use this post and the other links as inspiration! I will definitely be back here… I foresee this blog becoming a quick favorite!
Alright. If I hadn’t already been convinced that we should be friends then this would have done it in. Guess what I have for breakfast EVERY morning? An english muffin with peanut butter and yogurt…sometimes topped with berries…sometimes topped with granola. Seriously it’s the best. And I’m glad I’ve found someone who shares my love for this breakfast combo.
And I’m definitely making this granola soon. YUM.