"Brain Food" Skillet Granola

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We love some good granola around here! Low-carb granola and milk can be a nutrient-rich way to start the day or a quick healthy mid-day snack (or late-night snack, shhhh….). I’ve even been known to pour some on yogurt and call it dinner on a busy evening. Plus, if you add some chocolate chips, you kids will actually think they are getting away with something;) But any granola just won’t do. It has to be packed with nutrients and be low in carbs- two things which most store-bought granolas are not.  I used to enjoy making a huge batch in the oven, but ever since I discovered the quick and easy skillet version, I've become a granola convert.

What’s more? It has 8 (yes, 8!) ingredients that are on our Brain Foods Checklist. Get it here!

"Brain Food" Skillet Granola Recipe

In a skillet: Add a 3-4 Tablespoons high quality butter + 3-4 Tablespoons of honey.

Warm this up until it melts and starts to bubble slightly.

Add 2 cups of oats, 1/2 cup (or 1 cup) shredded coconut, 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, some ground cinnamon, and 2 Tablespoons of vanilla extract. Stir occasionally with a spatula, adding coconut oil if it gets too dry before it gets toasty. Stir occasionally until toasted, about 5-10 minutes.

Remove from the stove-top and add in ¼ cup of each: ground flax, wheat germ, and chia seeds.

(Those 3 ingredients are somewhat sensitive to heat, so we add them now to keep them fresher.)

Stir to combine while still warm.  Let it cool. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. Enjoy!!
You can play around with the ingredients to suite your taste, it's a very forgiving recipe!

Note: This is not low calorie; calories don't matter nearly as much as nutrients do.

Added Bonus: Pumpkin seeds are a "traditional intestinal antiparasitic" and may prevent parasites (i.e. pinworms) from hatching in the gastrointestinal tract. There are no human studies (only animal studies, at a dose of about 70 pumpkin seeds) but I credit this granola to our avoidance of this problem that is prevalent among the kids in this region (Israel). We once had a very busy month before a big trip abroad and life was so busy that I didn't make any granola. I will spare you the details. I try to make this about twice a month and all is good again! Click Here and Here to read about the experimental animal studies. 

My kids eat this about once a week for breakfast and I feel good sending off to school with nutrients soaring in the bloodstream.  Yeah, I am a nutrition dork. I’m cool with it.  Seriously, go make this granola.