Protein Powder Granola

The new year has already started off wonderfully!  I just celebrated my birthday yesterday with some of my favorite people, my job is still amazing, yoga still rocks, and I continue to meet and be surrounded by positive, inspiring people!

I’ve been struggling with the direction of my blog lately because one of my resolutions for the year, after reading The Happy Vegan by Russell Simmons, is to eat less dairy.  Plus, this goes along with the yoga principle of “ahimsa,” meaning “compassion” and “not to injure.”  We shall see…

For now, here’s this:

Protein Powder Granola

Ingredients:

 

Ingredients:

• 4 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 1/4 cup flax seed meal
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup vanilla protein powder
• 1/2 cup chopped dates
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, wheat germ, flax seed meal, brown sugar, dates, cinnamon and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, honey, and vanilla. 
4. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry, and mix until evenly blended. Spread in a greased 9×13 or 11×7 inch baking pan.
5. Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, stirring every 20 minutes, or until toasted.
6. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.