Applesauce Granola

not very much oil, the only sugar is honey or agave! Now, I followed this recipe exact, and it was not sweet enough to just eat with milk. if I was to make it to eat with milk, I would do more honey. maybe not quite double. I love tasting the oats/nuts etc, and you know my sweetness meter, so you can gauge based on that. BUT, all that said, it was PERFECT sweetness for on top of yogurt with just the granola or with some strawberries or other fresh fruit. then I wouldn't want it any sweeter. anyway, try if you want! I liked it! **I'm not sure the time becasue of our humidity here it took a lot longer to crisp up!!


6 c large flake oats
1/4 c flax meal
1/2 c wheat germ
1 T cinnamon
large pinch of nutmeg
1/2 t kosher salt
3 c whole almonds
1 c unsweetened shredded coconut
3 T olive oil
2 c applesauce
1/3 c honey or agave syrup (increase if you like a sweeter granola)
2 c dried cranberries or raisins or dried apple bits

Preheat oven to 300F. In a large bowl, mix together the first 8 ingredients. Add in the oil, applesauce and honey or agave syrup and mix well using your hands until everything is well coated. Spread mixture between two baking sheets lined with silpat or parchment paper and bake, turning mixture frequently and rotating pans until the mixture is dry and golden. For me, this took about 1 hour or a bit more. Add the dried fruit as soon as it comes out of the oven. Let cool and then store in a sealed container.

OAT CAKES

**So I got this recipe from a blog that I absolutely love called tiny-morsels, and she actually got it from one of my other favorite blogs called the happy foody. I made these yesterday and absolutely love them! They are yummy and way easy. Anything is good on top of them although I really like sour cream, brown sugar, and blackberries or blueberries. They are also good with just butter and syrup or butter and powdered sugar. The tiny-morsel lady said that her daughters favorite is almond butter and syrup, sounds yummy to me but i am out of almond butter!

Just a heads up: these ARE NOT like the fluffy pancakes you get at IHOP. These are dense little cakes, with more texture. And they taste like a bowl of oatmeal. Also, since they don't contain any flour, they don't knock-you-out and drag-you-down like traditional pancakes do (Nobody needs that, especially first thing in the morning).

2 cups rolled oats
2 cups milk
2 large eggs
2 tbsp. melted butter
1/2 tsp. fine grain sea salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
coconut oil (for cooking) (I just used butter)

*the recipe doesnt call for it but i put in about 1/4 tsp. of vanilla**

• Use a food processor (I used my blender) to grind the oats to a flour-like consistency.
• Mix the ground oats with the milk, cover, and let the mixture soak
  overnight (12-24 hours).
• Stir in the eggs, butter, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Mix well.
• Cook over medium/low heat. Oat cakes take longer to cook than regular pancakes, and burn easily, so go slow.