Crunchy Quinoa Walnut Granola (No Added Sugar) - FOOD PHOTO SHOOT

[gringalicious]

You knew this already, but granola is totally my jam.

I love the crunchy, nutty texture and the fact that everything you throw into it becomes like a beautiful piece of a delicious puzzle once it’s baked. You can mix and match flavors so that every time you make it you get a brand new thing.

The things I love don’t stop there though, that’s just what you can put into granola. I didn’t even begin to cover the world of possibilities for what you can put the granola into, which is basically everything. Tell me, have you ever tried granola on a salad? Well, if not you’re missing out. Bae my friend, it’s bae.

The only downside of granola is that it tends to be pretty energy dense, you know? Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s great for athletes and hikers. However, if you aren’t quite as active it’s usually recommended to be eaten in moderation, especially granola that is pretty heavy on the sugar and oil.

Well, since I could probably eat an entire box all by myself if unchecked, I decided it was a brilliant idea to come up with a super clean version of granola that could be used a little more liberally because, like I said, I could literally add it to everyTHING! Hey, have you tried it on oatmeal or pancakes?

I do throw in a little ‘disclaimer’r, I guess you could say, that it’s not extremely sweet. Personally, I really liked it this way because it seems to better compliment things such as fruit or yogurt. Now, if you really like your granola sweet you can definitely add a bit more dates to the recipe. Then there’s always the option to add a little maple syrup or honey if that works for you. Another idea I had is to use some mashed bananas in it to make a sort of “banana bread” granola. I haven’t tried that yet but I’m thinking it needs to happen soon. I’ll let you guys know if I decide to try it. Hey, or maybe you can give it a go and tell me how it turns out.

This is a very simple recipe to make but if you are short on time I’d recommend having the quinoa cooked ahead of time. Or, if happen to already have leftover cooked quinoa this is a great way to use it. Other than that, this recipe is mostly hands-off. I know it does take a little bit of baking time, but that really is key to the best crunchy texture.

A last tip that I always use when making granola, is to leave it in the oven after cooling off. I picked up this trick when I was living in Patagonia and the humidity was always a challenge. The climate I live in now is very dry but I still do this anyway. It helps to insure you get a crispy finished product when you use this tip.

Okay, now go get creative and see how many things you can add this to.

Crunchy Quinoa Walnut Granola (No Added Sugar)

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 5 hours
Yield: 12 servings

A granola makeover that's light on the sweet, heavy on the goodness. No oil or sugar needed here. Just dates and walnuts are used to give this recipe its nutty sweetness.

Ingredients

1 cup (185g) uncooked quinoa
2 cups (200g) pitted dates
2 tablespoons (30g) chia seeds
1/4 cup almond milk
2 cups (200g) raw walnuts
2 cups (180g) rolled oats
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

In a small saucepan, add about 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Add the quinoa and reduce heat to a very low simmer, then cover and allow it to cook for about 15 minutes, or until the water is absorbed. Remove lid and allow the mixture to cool for about 15 minutes. (This step can be done a day before to save time. You can also use precooked quinoa)
In a medium glass or stainless steel bowl, add the dates and pour enough boiling hot water over them to cover. Allow them to soak for about 20 minutes.
In a small bowl, use a fork or whisk to stir in the chia seeds into about 1/4 cup almond milk. Allow this mixture to sit for about 5 minutes to absorb the liquid then stir to ensure that there aren't any clumps of seeds.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180C) and line a baking tray with parchment or non-stick liners. Drain the dates and add them to a blender or food processor and pulse until they become a paste. Add in the oats, walnuts, sea salt, vanilla, and soaked chia seeds. Pulse until this comes together into a dough-like mixture. Scrape the mixture into a large bowl and add the quinoa. Fold together with a spatula to mix evenly. Spread the final mixture out onto your tray and place in the oven to bake for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring in 15 minutes intervals until crunchy and golden.
Once the granola done, stir a final time then place the tray back in the oven and turn it off. Allow the granola to cool off with the oven for 2-3 hours. Now it's ready to serve however you'd like.
Store in an air-tight container.

For more great food ideas and inspiration, please do not forget to look at my other recent posts

1. Extreme Reese's Chocolate Brownies
2. Smooth & Creamy Strawberry Rhubarb Meringue Pie
3. Creamy Kale & Spinach Chickpea Macaroni
4. The Easiest Creme Brulee Ever
5. Quick & Easy Vegetarian Egg Rolls
6. One-Pot Creamy Mushroom Chicken & Broccoli Gnocchi
7. Chocolate, Caramel, & Banana "Banoffee" Cake
8. Avocado Chicken Green Enchilada Bake
9. White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake
10. Monster Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

ALL CONTENT IS MINE AND ORIGINAL! All of these food photos were taken with my Nikon D750 and my favorite Lens, the Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G. You can find out more in my INTRO POST.

And, by the way, to all the minnows out there, my intro post did a huge $0.21. The key to success on Steemit is to be consistent and persistent. Click on the link below for some great tutorials on how you can also succeed on the steem blockchain:

Master Toolkit: Steemit Resource Guide Illustrated by @sndbox

Also, a huge shoutout to @rigaronib for designing my logo!

Do you want to learn more about me? Click here to see a recent @wadepaterson interview with me - 20 questions with @gringalicious

My Current Stats: 68,403 Steem Power | 15,502Followers | 32,178 Posts | Reputation 75.194

Comments

[reemy]

Yummmy

[mdnajir]

i love food. so all the pix are great.

[olawalium]

This is really nice. Perfect for breakfast. How do you get inspiration in coming up with lot of things that you always try out, my friend? I am always impressed with all that you do, and your humour always make things perfect.

I recently came in contact with Granola and i must saw it is totally good. I love dates too, so this shouldn't be hard for me to try out.

The "Banana Bread@ Granola; mashed bananas, would be totally welcomed and i would love to see how i turns out. Well, i am the taster, i would be with you, as always, in every single step.

Have you traveled yet? My bags are waiting to leave my room. I have packed since last week, don't mind me, i am too excited to travel, hence the early packing, but then, who wouldn't be? It would be an amazing trip. Would be stealing few glances at you, so i might not sleep. Hahaha

This delicacy has been certified fit, tasty, good, and nourishing. Well done, beautiful.

[slimanepro]

Beautiful .. Interesting recipe
It looks good from the pictures .. it is worth to try it
Great post‏..

[dougkarr]

Yum! I had granola for breakfast this morning.... but this looks wayyyy better!

[hms818]

That looks really healthy!

[gringalicious]

Thanks for reading @hms818!

[marilia]

Upvoted on behalf of the dropahead Curation Team!

Thanks for following the rules. Your post will be Resteemed by @dropahead!

DISCLAIMER: dropahead Curation Team does not necessarily share opinions expressed in this article, but find author's effort and/or contribution deserves better reward and visibility.

Help us giving you bigger upvotes by:

Upvote this comment!	Upvote the latest dropahead Daily Report!
Join the dropahead Curation Trail to maximize your curation rewards!	Vote dropahead Witness with SteemConnect
Proxy vote dropahead Witness with SteemConnect	Donate STEEM POWER to @dropahead 12.5SP, 25SP, 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP

Do the above and we'll have more STEEM POWER to give YOU bigger rewards next time!

---

News from dropahead: How to give back to the dropahead Project in 15 seconds or less

[muzammil381]

i love food very much..

[gringalicious]

yeah, a lot of people do

[mrchef111]

Granola is a amazing! Especially with blueberries and raspberries and other berries! You make it look even more tasty with your pictures! Great job! :)

[gringalicious]

I'm so glad you think so too @mrchef111 Thanks!

[mrchef111]

You are very welcome!!

[kemalcetin]

I liked it

[maj]

I’m loving these creative post! I won’t have to feel guilty when eating this and that’s a fact!
Keep on steemin’

[makesushi]

Looks very nice and tasty

[ruta]

"No added sugar" always gets my attention ha, but this is excellent combination!

[gringalicious]

Thanks @ruta!

[overcome]

This post right here made me HUNGRY...looks great! :)

It also reminded me of a photo I took of a meal I had previously that had similarities ( minus the Granola of course hehe)

Anyway thanks for the recipe, I may give this a go...though I usually just eat/blend this kind of stuff instead of cook to preserve vitamins and freshness.

I've got some recipes posted and some up my sleeve I need to post also...

[cryptomanianews]

But you make me hungry :-))

[monika-homa]

I never made granola with quinoa!
A great idea for a healthy breakfast 👌

[khanjazzy]

Yummmy
!!!

[ngocbich]

Looks very delicious! I admire you so much :)

[gringalicious]

Thanks @ngocbich!

[sabbir1213]

Thank you mam @gringalicious for leaning step by step how cooking this item..

by the way photo shot is beautiful

[gringalicious]

Very kind of you @sabbir1213!

[tamsguitar]

Wow! looks really beautiful.

[gringalicious]

I'm so glad you like it @tamsguitar!

[noboxes]

What a beautiful combination

[gringalicious]

Thanks @noboxes!

[mamaloves]

marvelously done! I love you idea and I love your photography!!

[gringalicious]

I'm so glad you like it @mamaloves!

[muksa]

extraordinary talent in processing food. it tastes delicious.

[gringalicious]

Thank you so much @muksa!

[bxt]

i especially like the blueberry, now it's the season of blueberry , very nice way of eating it.

[hanseljoy]

looks very healthy dish

[gringalicious]

I think so. Thanks @hanseljoy!

[bsaddi]

Excellent food photography, very nice post, thanks.....

[pleasestop]

Please Stop - @bsaddi

You just said "nice post","very nice post" and in your your last 100 comments you used 89 phrases considered to be spam and you made this exact same comment 1 times. You've received 0 flags and you may see more on comments like these. These comments are the reason why your Steem Sincerity API classification scores are Spam: 87.40% and Bot: 3.50%

Please stop making comments like this and read the ways to avoid @pleasestop and earn the support of the community.

[gringalicious]

Thank you @bsaddi!

[joyart]

That's awesome and even more spectacular with the nutty look...... You did great, well done

[azharsigege]

the food is good, i like this.

[paddygsound]

That looks great and so simple to make!

[wanasoloben]

Looks so yummy;)

[teenovision]

the preparation looks nice and unique maybe you can start your own restaurant

[blazing]

perfect this is to enjoy the day with some good food :D

[zahiduli]

HUNGRY

Thank you for serving.

[florine]

Very beautiful pictures. I'm also a big fan of "no added sugar" recipes, thank you for sharing :)

[aperitif]

It looks like really delicious!!

[arbazbutt]

yummy!!! Granola is one of my favorite breakfast food. I loves to eat because its a healthy meal

[flachito88]

Looks yummy,
i also love granola, especially because you can do many variations, i will definetely try the crunchy quinoa walnut granola, thanks for posting this recipe, good job @gringalicious,
ciao

[adjs20]

Hi @grongalicious
Please Help me by upvoting and resteem this post
https://steemit.com/life/@adjs20/help-is-still-needed-please-read
It's very important.

Sorry for bothering you.

[pariza]

I have finished my half working hour. lunch time now and need some food like this.....@gringalicious. looking so yummy. Excellent photography of the recipe.

[powerupme]

Yummy very delicious food 😻😻😻😻😻😻🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍱🍚 food combination was so good , i like this .

I recieve your post resteem .

Your post is always different i follow your blog and upvote everytime , your post is so helpful . I always inspire of your post on my steem work . Thank you for sharing @gringalicious

Follow my blog @powerupme

[nomadicsoul]

I miss granola like this. The only downside to traveling so much is sometimes it's hard to find these ingredients! Your blog is just making me want to come home to make some food like this lol.

Congrats to you for finding the time to post every day, by the way. I've been following you for a lil' over a month and supporting your posts, but I just realized dang, you barely miss a day! So good job @gringalicious!

Also, random question that I thought of from looking at your mangos...do you ever eat them with chili?

[powerupme]

Yummy very delicious food 😻😻😻😻😻😻🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍱🍚 food combination was so good , i like this .

I recieve your post resteem .

Your post is always different i follow your blog and upvote everytime , your post is so helpful . I always inspire of your post on my steem work . Thank you for sharing @gringalicious

Follow my blog @powerupme

[rohits]

thanks for sharing this ..amazing

[werstempringmel1]

I should try it

[nicoleslife]

That looks super delicious =) What a great and easy recipe :)

[erikah]

I'd like two servings right away if possible 😊

[ehsan888]

its realy great.. 👌

[timewarp]

oh its sound delicious, its full of energy and great for breakfast.
thanks for sharing this amazing recipe.

[edgarsan]

how delicious that dish is, angelic and magical its taste must be harmonious
:O

[paulavg]

This looks so tasty and good, love the colors in the recipe!

[cryptomanianews]

Yummy very delicious food...you are
very good photographer and your dishes seems that I can touch them with my hand