You make this quinoa granola – the name says it all – with quinoa but also with oat flakes, ginger spices and sunflower and pumpkin seeds. A delicious start to your day!

Quinoa granola | insimoneskitchen.com

Quinoa granola

How delicious does this plate of quinoa granola look? I love it. Ever since I discovered how easy it is to make my own granola, all sorts of variations on the theme have come along. For example, I like to make a regular granola, but a paleo granola is also often on the menu here. What I put in it depends a bit on what I have left over and what I’m in the mood for.

I saw this quinoa granola in Donna Hay’s book Fresh & Light (I don’t know if it is still available.) and it looked so delicious that I wanted to try it.

Quinoa granola | insimoneskitchen.com

Cooked or uncooked

The first time I made this recipe for quinoa granola, I followed Donna’s instructions completely. And although it’s actually not very clearly stated in the recipe, I had concluded from it that you make it uncooked. And it certainly works, but it is on the crunchy side. Maybe I should have let it roast longer.

Next time, though, I made it with cooked quinoa and I liked it a lot better. If you cook the quinoa, do cook it shorter than usual. About half the time is sufficient. It then cooks further in the oven while roasting.

Puffed quinoa

Another tasty option for this quinoa granola is to puff the quinoa first. You can do this with either quinoa that you have to wash first or with quinoa that can go straight into the pan. In the first case, you let it drain well and dry a bit. Then heat a saucepan or frying pan with a little oil and toast the quinoa until it puffs. Bit similar to popcorn but a lot smaller. Handy to use a lid although they don’t pop out of the pan like they do with corn.

The quinoa can then be further processed into quinoa granola. By the way, you can also buy puffed quinoa that way, but it’s a little harder to find. Plus it’s not complicated to make it yourself.

Quinoa granola | insimoneskitchen.com

Gluten-free

Quinoa is naturally gluten-free but if you want to be sure your granola is gluten-free, make sure you buy gluten-free oat flakes. Store bought oats can sometimes contain gluten. That should be mentioned on the package so make sure to double check.

In this recipe you mix the quinoa with oat flakes, maple syrup, oil, cookie spices and the seeds. You can add other things like nuts, chia or flaxseed and the like if you want. After toasting, you could add dried fruit.

Cooling

Let the quinoa granola cool well after baking and then transfer it to an airtight jar. It will stay good and crunchy for at least a few weeks that way.

Quinoa granola

5 from 1 vote
GangBreakfast
KeukenHealthy

Delicious and easy to make granola. This makes for about 10 portions of granola. Depending on how much you'd use per serving
Prep time 10 minutes
Cooking time 30 minutes
Total time 40 minutes

10 portions

Ingredients

  • 275 grams quinoa
  • 125 grams rolled oats
  • 55 gr sunflower seeds
  • 35 gr pumpkin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp cardamom
  • 1/4 tsp ginger
  • 60 ml maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp olive oil or other vegetable oil

  • Preheat the oven to 180˚ C (350˚F)
  • Put all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and mix until well combined and you have little lumps forming.
  • Spread out over a large baking tray covered in baking paper and put into the oven
  • Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown and check half way to turn over the granola so it bakes on both sides.
  • Once golden take out and leave to cool completely.
  • You can keep it in a airtight container for about 2 weeks

Nutrition Information per portion

Calories: 248kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 44mg | Potassium: 275mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 5IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 2mg

Disclaimer

The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.

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Simone van den Berg

Food- and travel blogger from the Netherlands. Loves good food. Loves to taste good food the world over. She also loves to share travelstories, delicious recipes and ok, cat pictures too. She sometimes feels the need to get really healthy for a while, always mingled with periods of insanely delicious sweets and other decadent treats. Lives in the Netherlands with her two cats; Humphrey and Buffy. Profession: Food photographer, food blogger, recipe developer and nutritionist