A little breakfast treat for you this morning, friends. I made this seeded granola from Good to the Grain, Kim Boyce’s excellent book about baking with whole grains, as part of a mass Sunday afternoon prep-for-the-week cooking extravaganza last weekend.

I’m trying to get good at walking the walk, and actually making big batches of stuff to get me through five lunches at work and frantic I’m-so-hungry moments. I’ve been making simple quinoa salads on Sundays like it’s my job, and it really does make a difference to have a healthy lunch ready everyday.

This granola doesn’t really fall into the “healthy” category but it is easy to grab and super delicious. It’s less clumpy than normal granola (boo), probably because it’s made from seeds and oats and lacks bigger flakes, but it’s super tasty and full of brown sugar, butter, and a kick of cayenne powder that pretty much makes me want to marry it.

Seeded Maple Granola
adapted from Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce

Ingredients

Dry mix:

• 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 2 cups whole rolled oats
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/8 cup flax seeds
• 1.5 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1/2 tbsp poppy seeds
• 1/4 tsp cayenne powder

Syrup:

• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1.5 oz unsalted butter
• 1/2 tsp coarse salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325F/165C. Toast the pumpkin seeds on a baking sheet for about 15 minutes then remove and set aside.
2. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, including the pumpkin seeds, mixing thoroughly with your hands.
3. Make the syrup: combine the butter, maple syrup, brown sugar, and salt in a thick-bottomed saucepan. Place on the stove top over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil, bubbling all over.
4. Remove from the heat and immediately stir into the dry ingredients, using a rubber spatula to completely cover and coat. Spread the mixture onto a Silpat-lined (or buttered) baking sheet in one uneven layer and bake for 30 minutes, removing to stir and turn every ten minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and let rest for a decent amount of time on the baking sheets so that those glorious clumps of granola form. Stores in an airtight container for about a week.