Pages

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Pumpkin and Flax Seed Granola



Have you ever tried Nature's Path Pumpkin Flax Granola?  Before retirement when I could afford to buy whatever food caught my fancy I would occasionally buy a box of it at Costco.  It's delicious and good for you (offering up an impressive 450 mg of Omega-3 fatty acids and 1500 mg of Omega-6 fatty acids, along with 5 grams of fiber, and 6 grams of protein, with 0 g of trans fat) but it's expensive.  Well it turns out that it's easy and even more nutritious to make your own.  Here's a copycat recipe to tantalize your tastebuds and help you be healthy.  I made it last night and it's already half gone.


  • 2 cups Oatmeal
  • 2 cups Oatmeal Flour (pulse oatmeal in a food processor or blender)
  • 1 cup Dried Powdered Okara (pulp remaining after making soy milk) - or substitute with ground oatmeal
  • 1 cup Almonds - sliced or if you start with whole ones chop them roughly in a food processor or blender
  • 2 cups Shredded Coconut (I used sweetened)
  • 1/3 cup Coconut Oil
  • 2/3 cup Honey
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1/2 cup Dried Shelled Pumpkin Seeds (could make your own or buy them - sometimes called "pepitas")
  • 2 Tbsp Flax Seeds
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees fahrenheit.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment or a silicone baking pad.  Melt together the coconut oil and the honey.  Mix in all the dry ingredients except the pumpkin and flax seeds.  Stir well to moisten all the ingredients.  Spread out evenly onto the cookie sheet and press down lightly with a bench scraper or spatula.  Bake in the oven for 45 minutes.  Crumble and add the pumpkin and flax seeds.  Store in a bag or a sealed container.  Enjoy with fruit and milk, on yogurt, or eat it dry as a healthy snack.

3 comments:

  1. flax seed nutrients are not very available when the seed is whole. You might want to either grind the seed - a coffee mill dedicated to spices works great - or use pre-ground flax seed. This recipe looks great - I'm definitely going to try it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Nan. You are absolutely right--confirmed it on the Mayo Clinic site. Strange that Nature's Path leaves them whole in their granola. My next batch will use ground flax seed instead.

      Delete
  2. I love this recipe and have made it several times now. Thanks for posting it! To add to the flax discussion - Heating ground flax seeds results in a loss of nutrients and – here’s the sucky part – creates free radicals. So, I just add a spoonful to each bowl of granola! :)

    ReplyDelete