Quinoa, dried fruit, and almond granola

I came across a recipe for quinoa granola in a magazine a few weeks ago and thought I'd give it a try, but I wanted to alter the recipe to add in a number of things such as including oats and substituting in maple syrup... While oats are gluten-free, people who are quite sensitive to gluten should use gluten-free oats (such as Bob's Red Mill gluten-free oats) since most oats are processed in places that also process things with gluten and therefore may be contaminated with traces of gluten.

 

Today is one of those cold January days that is best spent at home—a perfect day to try a new recipe...

Xena and Kowie, the dogs that I’m housesitting, also agree.

Quinoa, dried fruit, and almond granola

Ingredients

1 c quinoa

2 c oats

1/2 c raw pumpkin seeds

1/4 c flax seeds

1/4 c raw, unsalted sunflower seeds

1 c raw almonds

1/4 c maple syrup

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 c dried fruit (I used 1/4 c dried blueberries and 3/4 cup diced dried fruit mix included apples, peaches, apricots, prunes, and figs)

Directions

Rinse the quinoa with water and drain.

Add the quinoa and oats to a large mixing bowl.

Add the pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, and sunflower seeds.

Coarsely chop the almonds.

Add the almonds to the mixing bowl.

 

Mix together the maple syrup, oil, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt.  Pour liquid mixture over the other ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Spread evenly over a baking sheet.

Bake at 350° for 20 minutes, stirring every 7 minutes.

Cut up all the dried fruit to little bite-size pieces.

Pour the granola back into the (cleaned) mixing bowl.

Add in the dried fruit it in.

 

Store the cooled granola in an air-tight container.

The granola goes well with a dollop of yogurt.