If you were a food, what would you be?
A starchy potato? A pile of rich brown sugar? Maybe a handful of macaroni? Or…would you be a fancy, high-class vanilla bean? Be honest.
I like to think I would be some sort of superfood. Like acaÃ, cacao nibs, or goji berries.
They’re, like, the superheroes of food, aren’t they? I bet if they were people they’d have a cape, be super strong and most likely, incredibly attractive. Who doesn’t want to be all of those things?
Before the holidays, I had big plans for my first recipe of the new year.
I wanted to be a rebel, turn my back on diet-land and give you guys a gigantic chocolate cake…piled with chocolate frosting on top. But then I ate. A lot. During the holidays.
I had too many cookies. Too many cupcakes. Too much of everything.
I need a break.
A sweets break. A bad foods break. No diet for me. Nah, I’m not interested.
But I am interested in a vanilla speckled granola with slivered almonds, sweetened by agave and a little bit of brown sugar.
And then baked until the perfect hue of golden brown. The last move, to make this super healthy/superhero food, is folding in goji berries.
I love them for their antioxidents. I love them for their texture. And I so love them for their pretty pretty color.
Accompanied with some coconut milk? Yum. Hi 2012, nice start we’re having.
Vanilla Almond Goji Berry Granola
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup slivered almonds
1/3 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1/3 cup grapeseed oil (safflower will work too)
1/3 cup agave
1 vanilla bean, scrapped
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup goji berries
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together oats, almonds, coconut flakes, cinnamon and salt.
3. In a small saucepan, combine grapeseed oil, agave, vanilla bean inards, vanilla bean and light brown sugar. Heat to a simmer (and until sugar is dissolved) and remove from heat. Drizzle syrup mixture over oat mixture, and toss. Transfer granola mixture onto sheet pan and spread evenly. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown, mixing it once at the 10 minute mark. Let granola cool completely on a wire rack. Break it into chunks and mix in goji berries.
4. Using your hands, break granola into chunks; transfer to an airtight container and add goji berries and mix.
Yields about 4 cups
I was totally going to skip over this recipe, because it looked too heatlhy. BUT you had me at coconut milk. I freakin’ love coconut, and I really loved all those cookies and all those cocktails and all those candy cane kisses that I couldn’t stop eating, so I could definitly go for something on the healthy side of the food spectrum. And who doesn’t love granola? yum!
Wow, looks great! You would need a recipe like this to tempt me away from your last granola recipe which I love love love! Happy new year beautiful!
I always like the idea of homemade granola, but my homemade granola never turns out right! This recipe looks delicious though!
I completely sympathize with the “over-eating” state of being. Almost nothing sounds appealing after the vast amounts of food I’ve consumed just in the past two weeks. But this could definitely get me back into gear.
i love a good bowl of granola! especially vanilla bean speckled granola, this shall be tomorrow’s bfast 🙂
Thats’ funny, I wanted to be a rebel too and share my maple syrup fondu! And then we ate it all. hahaha. This is a much better way of starting the new year.
I’ll be hosting WHole FOod Wednesdays at http://www.beyondthepeel.net/category/blog starting this week. I hope you’ll come by and share a creation or too!
If you are interested in Baking and Nigella, Check out my Giveaway at –
http://www.rookieqookie.com/2012/01/pineapple-zabaglione-with-whipped-cream.html
yes please! This looks fantastic! I’m a granola freak!
Happy New Year, friend!!
I think I would be pork butt…No collard greens….or a peach. Not sure. Great recipe.
i love that this is has goji berries…i need more of those in my life!
Looks like a perfect breakfast after a month long sugar fest!
What a healthy start to the year. Having my Trader Joe’s granola with my own add-ins right now but this looks so much better (and pretty too).
I want to be a super food tooo!!!!! 🙂 Ok since I can’t pick that, then I pick peanut butter. Smooth and creamy and everybody loves me!
healthy and yummy! Good start to the New Year! xx
I could Goji berry my face all up in this. Y-U-M.