Tahini Granola

I've mentioned in a past recipe post about my love for granola and developing a recipe that was MUCH lower in fat and sugar than the store bought stuff. Our family goes through a batch of granola every week; it is our breakfast staple. I recently read about a recipe that used tahini instead of butter. 

Tahini is used predominantly in Middle Eastern dishes. Since hummus is a must in our house, tahini is a staple that is always in the refrigerator.  I thought I'd give it a go and adapt it into my "usual" granola recipe. It turned about to be delicious!  

As well as tasting great, tahini has many health benefits. Tahini packs a punch when it comes to B vitamins: B1, B2, B3, B5 and B15. When consuming 35 grams of tahini, it also meets 35% of your daily calcium intake. According to Natural News, "many people believe that tahini has a higher concentration of calcium than any other food."

Tahini Granola 
((Printable Recipe))

Ingredients:
8 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup raw honey
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/3 cup chopped raw almonds
1/3 cup chopped raw walnuts
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup raw coconut (optional)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 275 degrees F.

2. In a small sauce pan, on low heat, warm the tahini, molasses, raw honey, cinnamon, and orange juice together.

3. Mix the oats, almonds, walnuts, flax seed, wheat germ, and coconut together and divide between two rimmed sheet pans. Pour the tahini/sugar mixture between the two pans of granola. With a flat bottomed spatula (or your hands) mix the tahini/sugar mixture into the oats. (You can find a picture of me doing this here.) Or you can bake in a large cast iron skillet.

4. Cook for 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes. Rotate the pans every 15 minutes as well. Cool and store in an airtight container.

Other Granola recipes of mine you may enjoy:
Original Low-Fat Granola
Coconut Maple Granola
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola
Granola Pancakes
Granola Cast Iron Skillet Apple Bread
Nutty Pumpkin Pie Granola

Linked to: Midnight Maniac

Nutty Pumpkin Pie Granola

Pumpkin and cinnamon are baked right into oats, pecans, and walnuts, 

making this easy granola recipe a delicious breakfast for fall, or any time of year! 

You can find my recipe for Nutty Pumpkin Pie Granola over at Recipe Lion.

Dark Chocolate Granola with Peanut Butter

Sounds totally indulgent, doesn't it?  Trust me, it's actually pretty healthy.

(Just don't tell my kids.)

I make my usual granola about every week and a half but this morning a light bulb went off...

Why not stir in some dark cocoa powder?  I can call it "chocolate" but it won't add any fat, very little calories and would boost my granola with magnesium and antioxidants.

I. Am. Genius.

My mouths of my children will be hanging open wondering what happened to their mom. Who is this woman and why is she feeding us chocolate for breakfast?!

Oh yes, mother-of-the-day award... right here folks.

Dark Chocolate Granola with Peanut Butter
((Printable Recipe))

8 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
5 tablespoons brown sugar (or 4 tablespoons raw sugar and 1 tablespoon molasses)
5 tablespoons raw honey
6 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon vegetable oil or coconut oil
1 heaping tablespoon chunky raw peanut butter
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (optional, you can use more coconut oil)
4 tablespoons dark cocoa powder or cacao powder
1 pinch sea salt
1 handful whole, raw almonds, roughly chopped
1 handful whole, raw walnuts, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons ground flax seed (optional)
2 tablespoons wheat germ (optional)
2-4 tablespoons unsweetened raw ground coconut (optional)

Preheat your oven to 275 degrees F.

In a small sauce pan, bring the sugar, honey, orange juice, salt, oil, butter and peanut butter to a simmer- just until the sugar is dissolved.  Stir in the coconut.

In a large rimmed cookie sheet pan or jelly roll pan, place the oats, chopped nuts, flax seed and wheat germ.  Pour the cocoa mixture over the oats and stir until the oats and nuts are well coated.

Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  Cool and store in an air-tight container.

*Note: This granola is lower in sugar and fat than your typical store-bought granola. The oats will not be in as big of clumps as you might be used to.  But trust me, it is totally delicious and you won't miss all that extra fat, calories and sugar.

Featured on: Taste Spotting, Food Gawker

Linked to: Fave Diets, Sweet as Sugar Cookies, Simply Gourmet Photography