Try this healthy Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Spiced Granola for breakfast, a healthy snack, or a late night treat. A great way to welcome Fall!
I HATE millipedes!!! Like really hate millipedes. I despise them with every ounce of my being.
Where has this sudden rage come from???
The fact that millipedes are overtaking my home. It’s driving me bonkers. Absolutely NUTS. I’m on the verge of losing all sanity over here. I’m truly starting to believe that they have a stealth and massive millipede military stationed right in my backyard where they send their recruits into my home for boot camp training just to see if they can withstand my uncontrollable wrath against their kind.
I HAVE HAD IT!!!
I literally pick up about 20-30 millipedes a day crawling across my wood floors, climbing into my bed (ECK!!! Yes, TWICE I have woken up with them on my face), slithering along the baseboards, and poking their beady little heads up from the grass when my girls are playing in the backyard.
WE ARE SURROUNDED!
I have to remind myself that millipedes are just a slight nuisance embedded in the paradise of living in Hawaii. Although I feel my blood boil each time I spot one of these repulsive critters, I wouldn’t trade their absence in exchange for living on this beautiful island.
And part of the reason our house seems to be invaded by these bugs is that we are set up against a hill. We don’t have any neighbors behind us, which I absolutely love. We get extra privacy which means that I feel no guilt or shame sending my kids out naked to play in their blowup pool in our backyard. Pretty white trash of me, eh???
AND I also have to admit that my hand foot coordination has greatly improved since adapting the “kick ’em out the door” method as the best pest control whenever I see some millipedes scurrying around. Literally, I just tap them with my foot until they curl up like a stiff hockey puck, and I kick them right out the door. Sometimes I shuffle 2-3 of them at a time as I kick them to the porch. Seems a bit more humane to me than squeezing their guts out, but whatever.
Do you see how hard I’m trying to put a positive twist on this not so positive situation??? I’m trying really REALLY hard over here. I think I deserve some kind of reward.
This optimism reminds me of the mantra my sister-in-law would chant to her 3 year old each time she got in trouble while they were staying with us last week. It basically went something like this,”Turn that frown upside down…something, something, something!”
Okay, so it didn’t quite stick with me, but that was the gist of it. You get the point. Whether you’re sad or mad, suck it up and pretend that you’re happy. Ain’t nobody want to listen to all that moaning and groaning and whining and crying.
So when I made “granola bars” the other day and the pan looked perfect and they tasted delicious, and then I cut into them and they completely CRUMBLED…I didn’t even complain. I just smiled to myself (not really) and changed the recipe in my head. Instead of granola bars, I just made granola. And guess what? It was pretty dang good. Those bars can just wait for another day.
This accidental Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Spiced Granola recipe is the answer to all your Fall snacking cravings. It’s perfect for breakfast, snacking, or dessert. You can literally nibble on it all day long.
And you want to know what else? It’s HEALTHY!
Yay for healthy granola!!! Let’s be real over here. Most delicious granola is loaded with all kinds of sugar and is very high in fat.
Now, I’m all for fat as long as it’s the good kind. That’s why I opted to use coconut oil over alternative oils/fats for this recipe. I also threw in a heaping handful of dry roasted pumpkin seeds for some extra fat, flavor, texture, and protein.
Along with pumpkin seeds, I opted for some flaxseeds, crushed pretzels, Cheerios, and chopped apple chips (crispy not chewy) as my other mix ins for this show stopping granola.
Okay, you may think adding pretzels to a granola mix is weird, but let’s remember these started out as granola BARS and that would make this component not so weird. I was a little worried how the pretzel element would play into an actual granola that you pour milk on and eat for breakfast. Uh, let me tell you…NOT weird at all! The bits of pretzel were delicious mixed with all the other ingredients and it added a satisfactory sweet/salty profile to the combo.
And going back to the healthy note, this granola is sweetened with an equal mixture of coconut sugar and pure maple syrup. No corn syrup or refined sugar in this recipe! You know what that means??? I can feed this granola to my kids for breakfast without a single guilty bone in my body. That’s how you start your day off right!
Braelyn loved this granola and was quite upset upon realizing that the batch was gone after this evening’s fruit and yogurt parfaits with dinner. I guess I know what I’ll be doing tomorrow while she’s at school: purposely making granola!
How do you like to eat your granola? Plain, with milk, in yogurt, etc.?
- 2 cups gluten free thick old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup plain Cheerios
- ⅔ cup coarsely crushed gluten free pretzels
- ⅔ cup coarsely crushed dried apple chips (crispy, not chewy)
- ⅓ cup dry roasted pumpkin seeds
- 2 tablespoons flaxseeds or flaxseed meal
- ⅓ cup coconut sugar
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour oats on pan and spread evenly. Toast for 3-5 minutes until lightly golden. Remove from oven and reduce heat to 300 degrees. Let oats cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine toasted oats, Cheerios, pretzels, apple chips, pumpkin seeds, and flaxseeds. Stir until evenly distributed.
- In a small saucepan, combine coconut sugar, pure maple syrup, and coconut oil. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to a simmer/low boil and cook for 3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds to avoid burning. Remove from heat and add vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to incorporate. Let sit for 1 minute.
- Stir melted mixture and pour over oat mixture. Stir to coat evenly. Spread out on parchment paper and bake at 300 degrees in oven for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through.
- Remove from oven and allow to completely cool. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
