Paleo Granola

Who doesn't love granola?!? I attribute my love of granola to some serious freshman 15 back in the day. I had no idea how much sugar was actually in this "proclaimed" health food...and the serving size....is that some sort of joke? A 1/4 of a cup? Who eats a 1/4 of a cup when something is this addicting? So like anything I love, I set out to revamp granola to make the healthiest version I could. Good news, I hit this one out of the park! 

There is one caveat to making the best Paleo granola - you have to make some homemade almond coconut milk because the granola recipe calls for the leftover pulp. I call it a win-win. You get to make some fresh, healthy, chemical free milk alternative and use the leftover pulp to make some tasty granola! 

Paleo Granola (Grain free, gluten free, dairy free)

Ingredients

• 1 pound of raw unsalted mixed nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, walnuts, brazil nuts, and cashews)
• 1/2 raw pumpkin seeds
• 1/3 cup hemp seeds
• 1/3 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup ground flax seed
• pulp remains from almond coconut mylk recipe
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 2 T Ceylon cinnamon 
• 1/3 cup goji berries
• 1/4 cup raisins 
• 1/2 unsweetened coconut chips

Other additions:

• banana chips
• chopped dates
• dried chopped apple slices
• dried cherries or favorite dried fruit
• fresh nutmeg
• almond extract
• cacao powder and nibs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Roughly chop the mixed nuts.
3. Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl except for the coconut. (You can leave out the dried fruit if you prefer.) 
4. Line a large 12x18 cookie sheet with parchment paper. 
5. Evenly spread the nut mixture out on the cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 20 minutes. 
7. Remove from oven and stir granola. 
8. Return to oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and let cool. Store in refrigerator.