Easy Spiced Granola with Cinnamon and Cayenne

Spiced Easy Granola Hack

Friends, I’m so excited to bring you an easy granola recipe in collaboration with Jackie of @NoLeftovers this week! Together in the studio kitchen we whipped up a no-recipe recipe for granola using a simple ratio hack I’m going to teach you below. With limited ingredients and time, you can make breakfast for weeks in an easy oven-baked recipe requiring almost no prep on your part. Just stir, bake, and enjoy!

Jackie and I loved this one topped with berries and almond milk, or try Jackie’s epic idea of serving it over ice cream. It’s also great as a snack on the go or stirred through your favorite yoghurt bowl.

Why is this Easy Granola Recipe Healthy?

Store-bought granolas are often a bit sugar-heavy and don’t give you all the nutrients you’re after when it comes to a breakfast. But this easy granola is especially great because it is made completely from scratch — so you can control the sugar content, varying it to your tastes. You can also make substitutions based on your health preferences (for example, more healthy fats if you add more nuts, and more fiber if you add more oats).

I love to start my day with a bit of this granola, a fruit, and some plain yoghurt. Plenty of protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Oats contain fiber and iron, and nuts are packed with unsaturated fats that are great for your immune system and heart.

The star of this granola is really the cacao nibs, which are packed with antioxidants and are truly a superfood. They take on a delicious chocolatey flavor when roasted, which is the perfect sweet but sugar-free addition to this granola.

Why is this Easy Granola Recipe Easy?

Today it’s all about that simple ratio. Just take 1 cup oats and add 1/4 cup any other ingredients you want – you can use coconut, chopped nuts, whole seeds, quinoa flakes, go crazy with it! You can also add any spices you wish, today we’re going with cinnamon and cayenne for a bit of a spicy hit.

This granola is also easy because all of the ingredients come together in one bowl or even right on your tray. The prep itself takes less than 5 minutes, and the hard part is not eating it all the minute it’s out of the oven!

If you prefer to use a stovetop rather than an oven, you can easily toast off the mixture, stirring constantly, in a large skillet over low to medium heat.

The DC Color Code

The color code for this recipe is…

Brown! Yes, brown foods deserve plenty of love too. They’re often packed with heart-healthy fats, complex carbs (many carbs we are familiar with are brown!)

This recipe is…

• vegan
• gluten-free (check the label on your oats)
• easily made paleo if you sub in quinoa flakes for the oats and just use nuts, cacao nibs, coconut flakes and/or seeds!

For more easy and fun recipes to make on a budget, check out my E-Book: The Healthy Cook on a Budget!

Recipe: Warming Spiced Granola

Ingredients:

1 cup oats
1/4 cup coconut flakes (raw)
1/4 cup chopped nuts (raw, optional!)
1/4 cup cacao nibs (raw)
1/4 cup maple syrup (depending on how sweet you want it!)
1/4 cup olive oil
Big pinch of salt
Small pinch of cayenne

See that ratio in action?!

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (204 C).
2. In a bowl combine your oats, shredded coconut, nuts (if using), cacao nibs, cinnamon, cayenne, and salt.
3. Mix through the olive oil and maple syrup. Stir well. Spread onto a baking tray.
4. Bake in the oven for 7-12 minutes or until golden being mindful to stir every few minutes or until evenly golden! Eat up.