Banana and Orange Granola

At Casa Mohler, we try to maintain a well balance lifestyle- exercise, sleep, healthy meals, ECT. We often have to refocus the balance after I have gotten an itch to make cookies, breads, or maybe we have been “over served” by our bartender. Needless to say we usually are a bit “off balance”…..none the less we try!

The ripest banana will prove tastiest!!

This recipe for granola is great, I was looking for a low-calorie, low-fat recipe and ran into a few with mashed banana as the binder. No oil? Perfect. I added a few ingredients to build up a bit more flavor and protein. There isn’t a ton of honey in the recipe, so the orange zest really plays a part in the sweetness factor. I am pretty certain without the orange zest that I would be feeding cardboard to my family.

Pulse, Pulse, Puree! BamO!

Banana and Orange Granola

Makes about 6- ½ cup servings

2 cups rolled oats

1 ripe banana

3/4 cup water

1 tbsp. honey

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 tablespoon orange zest

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/3 cup walnuts, chopped

1/4 cup almond slivers

Preheat oven to 375°F.
In a blender or food processor (or by hand if nothing else), purée banana, water, maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla, and kosher salt until smooth.
In a large bowl, toss the banana mix with the remaining ingredients, oats, wheat germ, orange zest and nuts.
Lay out the mixture in a single layer on a baking tray, either non-stick or lined with baking paper.
Bake for 40 minutes until oats are starting to brown. Check and stir often. It can take longer to crisp; just give it a few more minutes. It will become toasted and crunchy!
Remove from the oven and allow cooling.

Stir it well!

Before the oven

This granola is perfect with all the typical granola roles, yogurt (Greek or Icelandic is my preference), or berries and fresh fruit. I think it is perfect to use as cobbler topping, or even in a salad when you want some crunch instead of croutons.