I saw a recipe for blueberry spelt waffles with turmeric granola the other day, but I didn’t want to wake up early and make the waffles. So I decided to make the granola the night before and put it on a smoothie bowl in the morning.

I’ve never tried making stovetop granola so I was a little apprehensive about how it would turn out. I could see one of those disaster situations where the granola caught on fire and the whole thing turned to charcoal.

Luckily, that didn’t happen. My smoke alarm didn’t even go off. This granola is one of the easiest things to make because you just throw all the ingredients in a pan, mix it a couple times and then let it sit and cool. I let my granola sit in the pan overnight.

I made a couple substitutions to the original recipe: I left out the turmeric because I didn’t know how that would jive with the blueberry banana smoothie bowl that I wanted to make. I also subbed in date syrup for maple syrup because I just bought some from Shouk, a new Mediterranean restaurant and market in D.C.

This granola is subtly sweet and a good complement to a sweeter smoothie bowl or yogurt. I like the buttery taste of the macadamia nuts and the date syrup together.

In others news, I’m very excited because the bakery I work at, Un Je Ne Sais Quoi, just made the list of the top 40 dishes you should try in D.C. Here’s a link to the full article in The Washington Post.

And in completely unrelated news, this is the last song I downloaded on Spotify.

Stovetop Date Macadamia Granola (slightly adapted from The Kitchn)

Ingredients

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (see Recipe Notes)
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
pinch of salt
heaped 1/2 cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon coconut oil or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons date syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Combine the oats, seeds, salt, and macadamia nuts in a large skillet. Stir over medium-low heat until the oats are fragrant and have turned slightly darker, and the pumpkin seeds are starting to pop. Remove from heat.

Make a hole in the center of the mixture. Drop the coconut oil into the hole and let it melt. Pour the date syrup over the oil, then gradually stir the oat mixture into the syrupy oil until everything is coated and well mixed.

Return the skillet to the heat for a minute, stirring, then take off the heat and set aside to cool in the skillet. Once cooled to room temperature, transfer the granola to a jar and screw on the lid.

Blueberry Banana Smoothie Bowl with Lavender (from me, to you)

Ingredients

1 banana
1 cup blueberries, frozen or fresh
1 avocado, pitted
1 cup almond milk
sliced banana, fresh or dried lavender, hemp seeds and date macadamia granola for topping

Directions

Blend the banana, blueberries, avocado and almond milk in a blender on high until smooth. Top with the sliced banana, lavender, hemp seeds and date macadamia granola. Enjoy!