Granola can be a real snore, a real bore. Or, it can be a magic carpet to breakfast and snack heaven only limited by your imagination. Our new recipe From the White Lotus Kitchen is the perfect classic to base your granola dreams upon. It supplies all the components needed for a delicious start or finish to your day. Eaten alone or with the addition of your favorite milk, you can be satisfied--even rocked into nirvana.

We suggest taking our recipe and then adding your own favorite spices like cinnamon or cardamom, maybe even a dash of black pepper. Try adding dried fruits like figs, cherries, apricots, dates, or even dried candied ginger. Or, change the nuts and seeds listed in our recipe to cashews, pistachios, and sesame seeds just to throw out a few ideas. You can add whatever fresh fruits are in season. I love the addition of fresh passion fruit and Siggis (not too sweet) strawberry or blueberry probiotic drinkable yogurt, or whole yogurt with fresh berries and tart Granny Smith apples. There's also the never-miss hit of pouring on homemade almond milk, but that's if I'm not just eating it by the handful all day long.

We hope you enjoy this take on classic granola with our Grandola.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole grain milled oats
1/2 cup whole pecans
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup almonds
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs maple syrup
2 Tbs muscavado brown sugar
1-2 Tbs water
drizzle of olive oil
flakey sea salt

Recipe:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Rough chop nuts. Feel free to change and balance the ratio of nuts and seeds to what you feel is good in proportion to the oats. Mix dried oats, nuts and seeds in a bowl. Melt butter in a saucepan, add maple syrup and brown sugar until dissolved. Remove from heat and add water. Drizzle warm butter mixture over the oats and mix until everything is coated. Add a drizzle of olive oil and break a pinch or two of flakey salt over the mix and stir again. Spread mixture evenly across a flat pan. Bake for 20-30 minutes turning and checking granola every 10 minutes or less to assure even baking and no burning. When granola feels dry and toasty, remove from oven and let cool. If you want clusters in your granola, add more butter, oil, and or sweetener. Store in an airtight container for a week or two...it won't last that long!