Toasted Barley and Berry Granola

Granola & Milk, a take along breakfast

Granola, Vanilla Yogurt & Fresh Fruit Parfait shown here with Granola ready for snacking

The crunch in the Banana Crunch Muffin & the Parfait comes from this granola

The granola recipe is below. To make the parfaits layer Dannon Vanilla Yogurt (do not use the Lite variety! It tastes bad & has a brown like color), Toasted Barley & Berry Granola, more yogurt and then top with a mixture of fresh berries. Serve right away or it becomes soggy.

• 1 ½ cups unsalted pumpkinseed kernels
• 1 ½ cups unsalted sunflower seed kernels

• 1 ½ cups pure maple syrup (thank you to Peachie Martin for her Michigan UP maple syrup!)
• ½ cup dark brown sugar
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon  (my favorite is Penzey’s Ceylon Cinnamon; I also added their Vietnamese Extra Fancy Cinnamon)
• 2 Tbsp vanilla
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp cardamon (this is essential for a delicious flavor & fragrance!!!)

• 8 cups rolled barley flakes
• 1 cup toasted wheat germ or wheat bran
• 1 ½ cups dried blueberries (do not use the cranberries infused/flavored with other juices!!)
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup dried cherries

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Place pumpkin and sunflower kernels on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 5 minutes. Cool.
3. In a mediuim bowl combine syrup through cardamon with a whisk.
4. Pour barley, toasted kernels and wheat germ into a large mixing bowl. Stir in syrup mixture.
5. Spread barley mixture on 2 large baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until slightly light brown, stirring every 15 minutes. Works well to use a large pancake turner to flip sections of the mixture to toast it all.
6. Cool baked granola. Stir in dried fruit. Store in airtight containers. Makes 16 cups.

Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine, March 2010

NSF 2/2011