Molasses Spice Granola

I woke up this morning with a serious case of the post-weekend blues. 

My jaw has been bothering me more than usual lately, that has been triggering headaches that occaisionally morph into full-on migraines.  The worst is when I wake up with a headache and don’t even get a chance to start the day off right.  Combine that with rainy weather and classes and a midterm on Wednesday, and I just knew today was going to be a bad day.

So I skipped my first class, took some Excedrin, made granola with molasses and cinnamon, and waited for the sun to come out from behind the clouds–and it did! 

Then I actually got my act in gear, went to school, visited the neonatal intensive care unit, and got my life put back into perspective.  Still have a headache, but maybe my week isn’t doomed after all.

And just a disclaimer–this is a slightly sweet, nutty granola with a dark molasses flavor.  It’s definitely not a super sweet, light, and fluffy granola that you might buy at the grocery store.  If you wanted to add some chocolate or even raisins or craisins, it’ll definitely take it up a notch to the sweeter level.  I wanted something that can give my yogurt or oatmeal a significant crunch without adding a ton of sugar.

I also wanted it to taste like blackstrap molasses.  You can customize yours however you want.

Molasses Spice Granola

• 3 C old-fashioned oats
• 1 C raw almonds, roughly chopped
• 1 C raw walnuts, roughly chopped
• 2 T ground flaxseed
• 1 t cinnamon
• 3 T spiced apple butter (pumpkin butter or applesauce could work, too)
• 4 T blackstrap molasses
• 1 t vanilla
• 1/4 C brown sugar
• optional mix-ins: raisins, craisins, chocolate pieces, sunflower seeds, or any other dried fruit/nuts

Combine the molasses, vanilla, sugar, and apple butter in a small pan and mix over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, combine the oats, flaxseeds, almonds, cinnamon, and walnuts in a large bowl.  Pour the molasses mixture over the top and mix until they are all evenly covered.  Spread the mixture onto an ungreased baking sheet and press into an even layer.  Bake on the middle rack for about 30-40 minutes, stirring occaisionally so that the mixture gets evenly baked.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool on the sheet.  It will still feel soft when you first take it out of the oven, but the granola will harden as it cools. 

You can store this in a jar in the fridge for a few weeks (up to a month).

I didn’t have raisins around, but I might grab some in the next few days to add in.  We’ll see how long this lasts, since Fritz loves crunchy, nutty, cereal-like breakfasts. 

Crunch.

With a dark, molasses twist.

Yum.

I’m also really excited because I realized today that I have most of the ingredients to make a killer chicken tortilla soup for dinner tomorrow.  I just want to grab an avocado and some corn–but I can’t wait to try it!  The one and only time I have ever had chicken tortilla soup was a few years ago, made by my big sis Erin and her hubs, Bruce–and I suddenly realized today that I needed to have it again within 24 hours or I might spontaneously combust.