Granola is one of my favourite foods to make because it can be customized with the ingredients you love, or even tossed together with whatever you have left in your pantry.  You can fill it with fun toppings like dried blueberries, pistachios or even my new go-to fruit; golden berries, which taste like sour patch kids! That being said, there’s something to say about simple, sweet and crunchy granola that pairs perfectly with any breakfast or snack.

I’ve partnered with Manitoba Harvest and their amazing Hemp Hearts to create this Simple Granola recipe that is light and sweet with added protein and omegas. You can tweak this recipe as much as you want, changing up the dried fruit or nuts and seeds to your liking. For this recipe, I used Thompson raisins which have an amazing taste. Raisins aren’t common in my recipes since they’re not my favourite, but these one’s have changed my ways as they’re WAY better than regular, bland raisins.

If you want to start using granola in your meals but aren’t sure how, I’ve got 3 fun ways to get you started.

Option #1- Sprinkled on Smoothie Bowls. Now that the warmer weather has arrived in Toronto, you can switch out that bowl of hot oats for a cooling, antioxidant-rich smoothie bowl and top it with fresh fruit and crunchy granola.

Option #2: Eat it as Cereal. When I was younger (aka 5 years ago) I was a cereal-a-holic! I use to sit down to a salad sized bowl of cereal every morning and was in heaven. You can still find me with a bowl of cereal today, but it’s definitely an upgraded version, using granola as a cereal base and topping it with chopped fruit like apples or pears, chia seeds and nut milk.

Option #3: Make Granola Bars. Did you know that you can turn your granola into granola bars? It seams only logical, but a lot of people wouldn’t think of it. I’m still perfecting my recipe but keep an eye out on my channel for some Peanut Butter Chocolate Granola Bars coming your way soon!

Now that you know how versatile even simple granola can be, you should definitely bake up a batch or two of this stuff and create your own fun ways to enjoy it.