Chai-Spiced Gluten-Free Granola

My husband and I sat down to a delicious cup of chai tea the other night when I was trying to think of something new to bake. I had recently picked up a new bag of gluten-free oats and wanted to bake some granola. Hmm, I wonder what granola would taste like if I used all the spices that are in chai tea? Delicious, that’s how! I hope you try this recipe. The granola is great on vanilla yogurt with fresh strawberries and a drizzle of honey on top.

Chai-Spiced Gluten-free Granola

4 cups gluten-free oats (you can purchase them here from Bob’s Redmill)

1 cup almond milk (or coconut milk)

1/3 cup melted coconut oil

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp cardamom

1/2 cup chopped dried fruit of choice (I used pineapple)

1/2 cup slivered almonds

Place gluten-free oats into a large bowl and mix in almond milk, melted coconut oil and pure maple syrup. Mix all spices in a small separate bowl before adding to the oats. Sprinkle spices evenly on top and add in chopped dried fruit and slivered almonds. Toss to mix the spices evenly throughout. Place on a cookie sheet that has been covered in parchment paper or sprayed with non-stick spray. Place in a 275 degree oven and stir every 15 minutes. bake for two hours or until granola comes out light brown and crunchy.

It’s funny how we become so accustomed to things that we often forget about them or act as if they don’t exist. Case in point, someone new was coming to visit and she drove up to my house. She called from her cell phone and said she thought she had the right house. “Yours is the one with the red poinsettia’s in the blue pots by your front door, right?” Embarrassed, I answered back, “Um, yes, that’s right.” Poinsettias in my pots in April? AND they were fake, no less! I guess back during the winter months, I was too lazy to take the pots to the garage, so I shoved a couple of red poinsettias down in. At Christmas time they actually looked decent. BUT not in April…ugh! And how many times have I opened my front door since then? I think someone threw an invisible cloak over them! Oh well, I love fresh beginnings, new starts, do-overs, whatever you want to call them. With springtime now here, my do-over happened today. I recently saw some beautiful plant containers on Pinterest and decided my pots needed an over-haul this year. Pinterest is great for inspirational ideas and if you are unfamiliar with how Pinterest works you can click on a link here: PINTEREST.

The website I was inspired by is called The Home Idea Maker (click on the link to see their beautiful hosta pots!) The nice thing about planting hosta (the large striped leaf plant) is the fact that it is a perennial, meaning it will return year after year. AND that means I won’t be putting a fake poinsettia in them and forgetting about them until April! Double bonus! Now  if anyone else comes to visit who has never been to my home before, they may say, “Is your house the one with the pretty blue flowering pots?” I will proudly say, “Why, yes!”

So my flower pots were inspired, and this past week my baking was as well.

This recipe was shared on Thisgalcooks, realfoodforager, simplysugarandglutenfree, deliciousobsessions, glutenfreehomemaker, wellfedhomestead, vegetarianmamma, SweetBellaRoos, RealFoddForLessMoney, NourishingSimplicity, PoorAndGlutenfree