Maple pecan granola clusters (vegan friendly)

This Maple pecan granola is sweetened with maple syrup and is jam packed with loads of nuts, seeds and dried fruit to help you start your day off right.

It’s perfect to have with milk, on top of yogurt or even alone as a healthy crunchy snack to steer away those midnight munchies or afternoon slumps.

I for one, LOVE breakfast because there’s nothing better than the feeling of being able to fuel and nourish your body after a long night of rest.

After all, the purpose of breakfast is to break-the-fast.

Usually I like to sit down and have a good ol’ pancake stack with a side of fresh fruit or a warm bowl of oats topped with cinnamon and seeds.

But…I had to have one of those “on the go” breakfast days a little while back because my friends and I were going out to visit Whytecliff park bright and early.

Great snack on trips!

So the night before, I decided to whip up a batch of my maple pecan granola because it’s SUPER QUICK AND EASY to make and oh so delicious to eat when it’s sprinkled on top of a portable single serve Greek yogurt cup

Plus, being able to pack a few extra handfuls of it to munch on after our “long” journey up the giant boulder that was surrounded entirely by water didn’t hurt either. 😛

My friend said that we got lucky this trip though because a couple months back, she came here with a few of her friends and they weren’t able to access the boulder region because the path leading up to it was covered with water since it was low tide!

Ohh nature is just so unpredictably amazing isn’t it?

Anyways, even though everyone thought I was crazy to bring a huge bag of granola along with me on our trip, they were the ones who ended up stealing the bag away from me half way through because they were hooked on it!

How ironic was that right?

So lovelies, what’s your favorite portable breakfast to have?

Maple pecan granola recipe

Ingredients (makes 4 cups)

1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup coconut oil (or olive oil)
1/3 cup honey (or maple syrup)
1 cup chopped dried fruit (I used cranberries + apricots)
2 cup rolled oats
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon sea salt

Method

1. Combine the chopped pecans, sliced almonds, sunflower seeds, coconut oil, and honey in a sauce pan and stir until everything is melted and coated.

2. Stir in the dried fruit, rolled oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.

3. Pour the mixture onto a lined baking sheet and spread it out into a thin layer.

4. Bake for 10 minutes at 250F before rotating the baking sheet and baking for another 10 minutes until golden brown.

5. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let it cool for 15 – 20 minutes.

6. Break the granola block apart by crumbling it with your hands or dropping the baking sheet down on the counter. Store the granola in an airtight jar for up to 3 weeks.

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