Ginger Snap Granola

image source

This one goes out to my cookie lovers.  Much in the same way that the addition of orange juice suddenly makes drinking champagne at 10am ok, this granola is like eating cookies for breakfast with little to no guilt.



I made this last night and brought a little bowl of it into the living room to share with Andrew while we watched an old episode of Lost.  He took a taste, and then literally dumped the entire contents of the bowl into his mouth.  I guess he liked it?  I'd had enough during my taste-testing anyway.

Ingredients

• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 1/4 cup organic unsulphured molasses
• 1 Tbsp ginger paste
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp organic coconut oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 250F
Combine agave nectar, molasses, ginger paste, and spices in a small mixing bowl.
In a medium mixing bowl, stir together oats, coconut, pecans, and salt.
Melt coconut oil in a pan on low heat, just until it's melted and then remove from heat.
Pour agave/molasses/ginger/spices mixture on oat mixture and stir until fully coated.
Pour coconut oil over mixture and stir again.
Spread on a parchment-lined baking sheet with sides and bake for 50 minutes, stirring every 10 - 15 minutes.
Let cool completely and store in an airtight container.

side note: don't do a google image search for "ginger snaps" expecting to get closeup pictures of cookies.  You won't, and what you do get is not pretty.  I think I might be scarred for life by what I saw.  You definitely want to have the word "cookie" in your search criteria.