Quinoa Cranberry-Almond Granola
Serves 12
Ingredients
- 1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
- 1/3 cup water
- 4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 2 cups uncooked quinoa
- 2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 cups roasted and unsalted sunflower seeds
- 1 1/2 cups chopped almonds
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup sweetened dried cranberries
Cooking Tip of the Week: Patting the granola mixture down to an even layer before you start baking it will help the granola from clumps and bake evenly.
Food for Thought: Vanilla is usually considered a very plain flavor, but the vanilla plant is actually very exotic! A vanilla bean is actually the seed pod of a beautiful orchid that only grows in hot climates like Mexico, Madagascar and Tahiti. Vanilla extract is made by letting mashed vanilla beans soak in a mixture of alcohol and water. You can also buy whole vanilla beans. To cook with a whole bean, carefully slice it long ways and scrape out the tiny seeds inside!
Family Dinner Conversation Starter: What does the word exotic mean? Have you ever traveled somewhere exotic or seen an exotic animal?
Directions
Adult: Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Adult: In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar and cup water and cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture comes to a boil (about 3 minutes). Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the syrup cool slightly.
Kid: In a large bowl, toss the oats with the quinoa, coconut, sunflower seeds, almonds, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
Together: Add the canola oil and vanilla to the brown sugar syrup and whisk well.
Adult: Pour the syrup over the oat mixture.
Together: Mix well with a rubber spatula or your hands until thoroughly combined.
Together: Transfer the oat mixture to a baking sheet and pat it down to an even layer; it will be thick but shouldn’t rise above the rim of the baking sheet.
Adult: Bake, stirring every 10 minutes with a spatula, until the mixture turns a nice even, golden brown, about 45 to 55 minutes. Watch granola carefully because coconut burns easily!
Adult: Remove the granola from the oven and cool, stirring occasionally.
Kid: Add dried cranberries when granola is cool, and store in an airtight container.