Matcha Granola
I like mine over coconut yogurt with whatever edible flowers are growing in the garden. It’s also good sprinkled on oatmeal or as a topping on vegan ice cream or muffins.
It’s also good in a bowl of nut milk, as matcha tends to be.
Makes about 5 cups and fills 1 large mason jar.
Ingredients
3 cups oats
1 cup nuts
I usually do a blend of walnuts, almonds, and pumpkin seeds in whatever amounts I have on hand
¼ cup shredded coconut
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1 tablespoon coconut sugar
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons matcha
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 300℉.
Combine nuts and seeds, 1 cup oats, shredded coconut, and chia seeds in a food process. Pulse 5 times to break up nuts into smaller pieces.
Add the mixture to 2 cups of oats in a large bowl.
In a microwave-safe measuring cup, combine olive oil, maple syrup, salt, and coconut sugar. Microwave on high for 30 seconds. Alternatively, you can heat on the stove, but you’ll have more dishes to do.
Pour the liquid mixture over the dry ingredients and stir to coat. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of matcha over the mixture and combine. Sprinkle the last tablespoon of matcha and mix thoroughly.
Spread evenly on two parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for 30 minutes, rotating halfway through until toasted throughout and lightly browned around the edges. Do not mix while baking if you want chunky pieces of granola.
Cool completely on the baking sheets, then store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place.
Variations
In place of matcha, try combinations of these spices totaling about 1 ½ teaspoons:
Ginger
Cinnamon
Cardamom
Or 1 ½ teaspoons of these premade blends:
Masala Chai
Pumpkin Pie
Chinese Five Spice
Add vanilla extract (aka a tincture in herbalist talk)
Swap a portion of the nuts for sesame seeds and hemp seeds
Substitute ½ cup of oats for quinoa flakes, puffed millet, or amaranth. See directions for puffing amaranth from Amy Chaplin’s At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen here.