Big, crunchy, clusters. Need I say more? This apple spice granola screams fall. The smell of slowly roasting these nut clusters in the oven is enough to leave you drooling. Plus, who doesn’t love all things apple? I am a sucker for fall, especially the fall spices, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. This granola fulfills all of the must haves when it comes to granola with the added spin of apples and spices. Twist my leg would ya?
The flavors of fall plus the nutrition needed to start your day off right equal a winning combo if you ask me. Yep, that’s right this could be a fantastic way to start your day. Plus, you can eat it like cereal. –>EEEK<– I heart cereal. It used to be my go-to food for breakfast, before I began this health journey. There is just something about dumping cold milk on a bowl full of goodness and eating it with a spoon. Don’t forget forget the best part, the milk that’s left in the bowl. Save the best for last, right? Okay, okay I know that some people are disgusted by the leftover milk, so just skim over that part.
Whether you’re a bottom of the bowl milk drinker or not, this granola is pretty fantastic! So why did I give up cereal? Well it began with the cost. After I got married and started to buy groceries for more than just me I quickly realized how much food actually cost. Wowza, food and at the time more processed food, added up to a pretty penny. One of our big culprits was the boxes of specialized “healthy” cereal.
The problem with cereal is that it just isn’t filling. Don’t kid yourself, one serving of cereal isn’t enough to fill up a mouse let alone a grown human being and we aren’t even talking holding you over. That is a different issue but one worth noting. So that leaves you eating bowl after bowl and if your my husband, possibly an entire box in the morning striving for that lasting fullness, that doesn’t ever come no matter how many bowls you fill.
So I stopped buying it, and saved roughly $10 a week by switching to leftovers and eggs. Hence where problem two comes in… I can only eat eggs so many days in a row before needing something different. Like, must have something different, on the verge of an egg meltdown, can’t eat them another day, well you get where I am going. I’m a girl who likes to keep things spicy, well not literally spicy, I mean I like a variety. Hence where exhibit A comes into the picture. I ate eggs one too many days and my thoughts become consumed with different breakfast foods –>cough, cereal, cough<– leaving me in a pickle.
That’s when granola caught my eye in the grocery store and almost made its way into the cart when I noticed the amount of sugar in granola. It was a mental fight, big crunchy clusters verses sugar. A full out mental brawl but I stuck to my guns and put it back because I know better. The problem, I never stopped dreaming of popping one of those clusters into my mouth and thus where the need to make granola came in and this beauty was born.
It is everything you need, a great way to start the morning, fall-inspired, pure deliciousness. Plus it is so easy, you can’t not make it.
Shhh, the secret to the big clusters, the egg white wash. Now go get your spoon and get ready. Oh happy day!
- ½ cup almonds
- ½ cup pecans
- ½ cup walnuts
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut
- ½ cup dried cranberries (optional)
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp allspice
- ¼ tsp cloves
- ¼ tsp ginger
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅓ cup coconut oil
- ⅓ cup applesauce (unsweetened)
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg white, lightly beaten
- 2 Tbsp water
- Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
- Mix almonds through salt together in a bowl. Mix in melted coconut oil, applesauce, maple syrup, vanilla.
- In a small bowl, whisk egg white with water until foamy. Add to granola and mix well.
- Spread granola out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 20 minutes stir and repeat for 60-90 minutes.
- Remove and let cool for an additional 20 minutes (this is IMPORTANT in clustering).
- Enjoy!
