Nourishment isn’t always, or ever, solely about the food you put in your mouth. It isn’t about exact ratios or perfect timing.
Nourishment is in the details but not the details we’ve been taught matter. It’s in crunch, and love, and people, and just the right hint of sweetness.
This recipe makes A TON of granola. Like 12 cups a ton. So you have options. You can have a ton of granola (valid option) or you can throw some in mason jars and spread the love. Every time I’ve made this recipe I’ve ended up giving most of it away. There’s something uniquely special about giving nourishment to another human via not only the kick ass granola which you will get props for, but also the via act of creation, via the act of giving them something you’ve poured a little of yourself into in the process. It’s deeply personal, in a granola sort of way, and lately I’ve felt the world needs to be more personal. What is life if it isn’t personal?
Gluten Free Chewy Millet & Molasses Granola Ingredients:
3 c coconut flakes 1/2 c pecans 1/2 c walnuts 1/4 c pumpkin seeds 1/4 c sesame seeds 1/4 c hemp seeds 1/2 c millet 1.5 - 2 c dried fruit (I'm a fan of a raisin & fig combo) 1/2 c ghee (or grassfed butter) 3/4 c honey 3T molasses 2T cinnamon 1/4 t nutmeg 1T fresh grated ginger (I like to keep mine in the freezer and grate with a microplane grater.) 1/4 t salt
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees. 2. Combine all the dry ingredients (minus the spices) in a large bowl. Know you have some leeway here - if you don’t like pecans, fuck em! Use something else. Use macadamia nuts. Go crazy. Granola is a kitchen sink of you. So combine to your heart’s content. 3. In a small saucepan, gently heat honey, molasses, ghee until softened, stirring to combine them. Stir in the spices (you can grate that ginger right over the pan.) 4. Pour the honey/spice mixture over the dry ingredients and combine thoroughly using your hands (if your honey mixture isn’t boiling lava hot), two large spoons, or I’m a huge fan of salad tossers. 5. Taste it. Add more salt, cinnamon, whatever as needed! 6. For easy clean-up, line two cookie sheets (rimmed ones will reduce the risk of spill-over via aggressive stirring) with parchment paper. Evenly spread granola mixture across the two sheets. 7. Cook for 30-40 minutes, stirring every ten minutes, until it’s getting golden brown and is a little less liquidy. Don’t worry if there’s still a little bit of liquid hanging around, that will caramelize and be awesome. 8. Perhaps sprinkle a little more salt on top when it’s right out of the oven for reals.
By: Maddie Berky
Maddie is a writer, blogger, storyteller & holistic nutritionist. She is not a purveyor of answers, but an asker of questions. And she seeks not to construct the most perfect plate, but rather uncover the human siting down to that plate who is worthy and nourished and alive. Our relationship with food creates this beautiful opportunity to explore who we are and train who we want to become. It asks us to engage with these multifaceted drives of hunger and nourishment and pleasure. Can we receive? Can we trust ourselves? Can we connect - to our plate, to our body, to our partner? It is the answer to those questions that not only affects what is on our plate, but more importantly, the space we take up in this world.