Jump to Recipe
[Welcome to recipe #2ofOat Week – EasterEdition! This post is sponsored by my wonderful friends over at Bob’s Red Mill– we’re usingtheir Gluten Free Old Fashioned Rolled Oatsfor this Lemon Chia Seed Granola!]
Hey, friends! If you recall, Mark and I brought a little one into our family a couple of months ago.
And by “little one”, I mean a tiny little calico kitten named Maya.
At times, it feels like we’re living with two completely different cats. Sometimes we’ll have calm, sweet Maya, who stretches out against our leg, turns on her back, and lets us scratch her stomach as she gently falls asleep. (This ishappening as I’m writing this, and I’m dying)
And other times, we’ll have welts on our hands, bites on our feet, and a cat in “time-out.”
She can be the sweetest little thing ever, but she deeeeeefinitelyhas a sassy side. For example:
We have one of those paper lamps from IKEA in our living room, and it has been thoroughly clawed by our furry friend. It’s now a very sad excuse for a lamp, as it nowresembles swiss cheese.
She has THE mouthiest meow when she’s hungry, too. She’ll completely let.you.have it if she hasn’t been fed in the last hour and you walk by her food bowl. And if her persistent meowing doesn’t work, it’s a bite on the foot for you.
She also likes to be RIGHT in the action when I’m cooking. Unfortunately, she has gotten into the habit of jumping up on the countertops in our kitchen, so when it comes time to chop, stir, or mix, she’s there. In her nosy-cat fashion. In fact, Maya managed to tip over an entire bag of Jasmine rice onto the floor Monday night because she just felt like sticking her head in the bag.
This cat. I’m telling you.?
But. Then there are moments like this. Where she just wants to be in the same room as I am. Even if my attention is on something else completely, like shooting this recipe, she just wants to hang with her mama:
This cat. I’m telling you.?
So even though she can be a complete and total basketcase, we’re still completely, head-over-heels obsessed with her…much like we arefor this Lemon Chia Seed Granola.
(oooh…like what I did there?)
For real though. And I’m not even a huge granola fan. I mean, I totally am – I lovethe textures, I lovethe taste, but I can get carried away reeeeal quick. Like, a whole…”one bowl turns into two turns into 10” kind of thing. So I try and stay away from it. But I really can’t with this stuff. Because this granola recipe is probably in my top 5 favorite Fooduzzi recipes of all-time. For real, friends!
While it’s baking, it makes your entire house/apartment/what have you smell like a freakin’ bakery. A bakery that is baking #allthelemonthings. <– do those exist?! Please tell me those exist.
In addition to the lemon (zest, not juice), we’ll also be adding some olive oil and honey, which are suuuch a natural and delicious threesome. Add a little vanilla to the mix, and we’re well on our way to Happy Town. I swear, you’ll want todrink the wet ingredients before they even make it to the dry. You owe it to yourself to try an almond dipped in the stuff. HELLO, perfection!
We’ll also need some oats! Because there are so little ingredients in this recipe (8!!), the quality of them really matter! That’s why I alwaysalwaysalways use Bob’s Red Mill’s brand. I always have it for breakfast, I always use it in all of my oat-centric recipes here on the blog, and I always use it in my Lemon Chia Seed Granola.
As for the chia seeds, it would be awesome if you could useblack chia instead of the white like I did so you have that whole play on the lemon-poppy-seed thing going on. I felt less than no desire to run to the store and pick up a package of black chia when I had white chia that would work just fine. BUT use what you have/what you can find – white, black, purple, pink, green – it all works beautifully!
As for serving suggestions, I love munching on it cereal-style with some cold almond milk, throwing iton top of smoothie bowls (stay tuned), or eating itby the handful! Actually, let’s be serious, I suggest any vessel that takes it from jar-to-mouth as quickly as possible. Seriously, guys! You don’t want to miss out on this stuff!
PS. Thank you so very much for all of your encouragement and support in my last post. I love the Fooduzzi fam!?
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 2 and 1/2 cups
Ingredients
- 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
- 1/2 cup raw almonds, roughly chopped
- 1 Tbsp. chia seeds
- 3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup honey (vegans use maple syrup)
- zest of 1–2 large lemons*
- splash pure vanilla extract
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Combine oats, almonds, and chia seeds in a large bowl. Mix to combine.
- In a small bowl or jar, combine olive oil, honey, lemon zest, vanilla and salt. Mix well to combine.
- Pour wet ingredients over the oat mixture, and mix until well combined.
- Pour granola onto the prepared baking sheet and pat down to create one even layer.
- Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from oven and turn the pan around and bake for another 3-5 minutes, or until the granola is golden and fragrant.**
- Let cool completely before munching. Store in a jar or container at room temp!
Notes
*If you use the zest of only 1 lemon, the granola will have a light lemony taste. If you want the lemon flavor a little more pronounced, use the zest of 2.
**To keep this granola as chunky as possible, don’t mix it at all during baking or after it comes out of the oven.
This recipe was adapted from Minimalist Baker!
A very special thank you goesto Bob’s Red Millfor sponsoring this post and for supplying me with some of their delicious products that I love for this recipe! All opinions are my own.
