Coconut Blueberry Flax Granola

Fruit, yogurt and granola is one of those trifectas that ranks right up there with espresso, frothed milk and caramel flavoring in my book. That's saying a lot. I LOVE granola but I HATE how it can ruin your effort to eat something "healthy" so I came up with this homemade granola recipe that has all the flavor, crunch and wonderfulness of the stuff you buy at the store without all the refined sugars and fat. Let's forget about store-bought granola from now on, ok? This stuff is a new favorite. It's got just enough sweetness, a great nutty flavor and awesome texture....and you don't have to feel bad about eating more than 1/4 cup of it at a time. Who on earth only eats 1/4 cup of granola?!?

Coconut Blueberry Flax Granola

Makes about 9 cups of pure joy
Ingredients:

• 5 c. old-fashioned oats
• 1 c. sliced almonds
• 1 c. chopped pecans
• 1 c. flaked coconut
• 1/2 c. blueberry flax seed, ground (Trader Joe's)*
• 1/4 c. honey
• 1/4 c. molasses
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/3 c. canola oil
• 3/4 c. water
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 c. water
• 1 1/4 c. dried wild blueberries (Trader Joe's)*

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325F. Line two jelly roll pans with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, almonds, pecans, coconut, & blueberry flax seed. In a medium saucepan, combine honey, molasses, brown sugar, oil, water, cinnamon and salt. Whisk until sugar is dissolved and ingredients are well-mixed (do not boil). Pour liquid mixture over oat mixture and stir thoroughly. Divide granola between parchment-lined jelly roll pans, spreading as evenly as possible. Bake 40-50 minutes, until golden brown, stirring every 5-7 minutes. Cool completely. Stir in dried wild blueberries. Store in an air-tight container. Enjoy!

Wanna share some with your friends? Probably not after you taste this, but it would be a nice gesture. ;) Here's how I packaged mine for sharing. Just a recycled jar topped with a simple circle of burlap (I traced the lid of my jar and cut 2" further out from there) and wrapped with twine. Your pal's day = made.

*If you can't find blueberry flax seed, it's super easy to make your own- just use freeze-dried blueberries ground up with your flax seed at about a 1:4 ratio. :) Trader Joe's carries both dried blueberries and wild blueberries. The wild ones are smaller and much sweeter, but either one will do the trick. Also, if you don't have a Trader Joe's nearby, no worries- your regular grocery store will definitely have dried blueberries.

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Mini Peanut Butter Nutella Cheesecakes

Well hello there! I finally have a camera again! I couldn't being myself to share recipes without pictures because, personally, I like to have at least somewhat of an idea of what something is supposed to look like if I'm going to go through the trouble to make it. I'm kind of a visual person. I hate cookbooks without pictures. So here we are. Peanut Butter Nutella Cheesecakes. Yes. 3 of the world's most wonderful things all wrapped into one glorious little ramekin. Actually, I'm pretty sure there's some love in there too so that makes 4. :)

These are a pretty versatile little dessert. I put mine into small 6 oz. glass ramekins that are the perfect serving size for a personal dessert. I served them for a crew at my Super Bowl party. Hit. I served them for our Valentine's Day dessert. Hit. You pretty much can't go wrong with peanut butter Nutella cheesecake over an Oreo crust. Oh, and did I mention you don't even have to go through the trouble of baking them? Yes. Easy AND delicious AND beautiful. What's not to love?

Mini Peanut Butter Nutella Cheesecakes
Serves 10

Ingredients:

• 1 (15oz) pkg. Oreo cookies, crushed
• 3 tbsp. butter, melted
• 1 (8oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 c. Nutella
• 1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
• 1 (8oz) tub Cool Whip, thawed (additional Cool Whip for garnish, optional)
• 2 oz. chocolate chips, melted (optional)

Directions:
Mix crushed Oreos and butter and divide evenly among serving dishes. Pat firmly into the bottom of each dish. In a large mixing bowl, combine Nutella, peanut butter and cream cheese thoroughly. Add Cool Whip to cheesecake mixture and whip until light and fluffy. Spoon or pipe cheesecake mixture into each serving dish over Oreo crust. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. Top with a dollop of Cool Whip and decorative chocolate* (optional). Enjoy!

*Decorative Chocolate: Place melted chocolate chips into a plastic bag. Snip one corner of the bag and pipe chocolate designs onto wax paper. Allow to set and use for garnish.


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