Sweet and Salty Favorite Paleo Granola

This morning Larkin ate a black crayon in the two minutes I sat down to be productive. She walked over and grinned with black teeth. We used to have a Boxer who did that all the time, but he would eat the colorful ones and wind up with rainbow poop. But days that start like this, they have me craving comfort food. And when I’m pregnant, all I want is something sweet, salty, and amazing. While I try my best to steer clear of sugar, I definitely struggle to find healthy snacks. My other issue is making sure I get enough calcium, and believe it or not, a girl can only eat so much cheese. I make yogurt for these food-loving munchkins of mine, but it’s plain and SO much better with some of our sweet and salty favorite paleo granola on top!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 2 Tbsp raw honey or maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 cups chopped nuts (I use a combo of cashews (note that these are legumes and are not always tolerated), pecans, walnuts, or almonds)
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 cup raisins (optional, they do have some refined sugar so I will sometimes omit these)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.
2. Combine coconut oil, honey, and salt in a large saucepan. Heat on medium heat, stirring, until it starts to boil. Turn off heat.
3. Add salt, vanilla, and cinnamon to the oil mixture and stir to combine.
4. Place the 2 cups of nuts in a food processor and pulse to roughly chop, but not so much that they turn to flour.
5. Dump the nuts, coconut, pumpkin seeds, and craisins into the pot and mix everything until well coated.
6. Grease or parchment paper a large baking pan (I use one with sides because every time I stir things go flying)
7. Bake for 35 minutes, stirring once. Let cool for at least 30 minutes so the granola can set.

I store this in an airtight container on the counter for up to 7 days, but it never lasts that long.