Millet Granola

This week, Rob was uber busy at work so I decided to spice up his mornings with some new granola. Like me, Rob typically eats oatmeal for breakfast and it has been ages since he’s made granola. He used to be a granola fiend, but it was put on his back-burner after we moved in together.  Way back when, in his granola-making days, he bought millet for granola.  Instead, the millet made its way into savoury dinners.

I don’t remember which recipe gave us the idea to add millet to granola, but whoever did it first should be applauded. Crunch explosion! In a great way! It gave a crunchy-crispy texture to the toasted oats and nuts. For this version, I went with Rob’s favourite granola flavours: cinnamon, cranberries, coconut and almonds, but feel free to pick your own favourite nuts and dried fruit. Just don’t skip the millet, because that is what makes this granola special.

Even if you didn’t think you liked cooked millet (I will admit that it isn’t my favourite grain), this is probably my favourite way to eat it. Don’t let the birds enjoy all the millet. 😉

Other granolas we’ve made:

Low-Fat Winter Fruit Granola (my Mom’s favourite)
Crunchy Coconut Macadamia Granola with Honey
Olive Oil Granola with Apricots and Pistachios

This is my submission to this month’s Breakfast Club for cooked/baked, this month’s Bookmarked Recipes and to this week’s Weekend Wellness.

Millet Granola
Adapted from Eat Your Greens

2 cups rolled oats
1 cup millet (uncooked)
1.5 cups raw almonds, roughly chopped
1/4 cup sweetener (maple syrup, etc)- I used golden corn syrup (decrease if you don’t want it too sweet)
1/4 cup oil, melted (coconut oil, olive oil, etc)- I used salted butter for Rob
3 tablespoons brown sugar (I didn’t pack it)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1. Preheat the oven to 300F.

2. Sort through the millet to make sure there are no pebbles or other debris.

3. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, millet, and almonds. In a smaller bowl, whisk to combine the sweetener, melted oil, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. Drizzle the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir to evenly combine. Spread evenly onto a rimmed baking sheet lined with a silpat and bake for 45 minutes or until deeply golden, stirring every 15 minutes.  Stir in the coconut and cranberries and continue to bake for another 15 minutes, until deeply golden and the coconut is lightly toasted. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes 5 cups.