Flax Granola Recipe

Got a query on Facebook re a granola recipe in 500 Low Carb Recipes. The recipe is based on TVP, a soy product, and the reader wanted to know what she could substitute. My best suggestion? "A better recipe." Here it is.

Flax Granola

2 cups flax seed meal
1/2 cup oat bran
3/4 cup vanilla whey protein powder
1/2 cup Splenda granular
1/2 cup sesame seeds
3/4 cup shredded coconut meat (unsweetened!)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup sugar free pancake syrup
1/4 cup water
2 cups chopped pecans
3/4 cup shelled sunflower seeds
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup shelled pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 250.

In a big mixing bowl, combine the flax meal, oat bran, vanilla whey protein powder, Splenda, sesame seeds, coconut shreds, cinnamon, and salt. Use your electric mixer or a whisk to mix everything together till it's all evenly distributed.

Melt the coconut oil, and stir it together with the sugar free pancake syrup and the water. Pour this mixture over the stuff in the mixing bowl, and use the mixer or whisk to mix the whole thing until everything's evenly dampened.

Spray a big roasting pan with non-stick cooking spray, and turn the flax mixture into it. Using clean hands, press gently into an even layer on the bottom of the pan. Put in the oven, and let it bake for an hour.

Now pull the pan out of the oven, and use a knife or pizza cutter to score the whole big sheet of baked flax stuff into squares. Use a pancake turner to turn everything over, and break the mixture up into bite-sized clumps. Now stir the pecans, sunflower seeds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and sliced almonds into the clumps of flax granola. Put the whole thing back in the oven for another 40 minutes to an hour, stirring once or twice during that time.

Remove from oven, let cool, and store in a tightly-lidded container. Serve with milk, cream, Carb Countdown Dairy Beverage, stirred into yogurt -- really, any way you'd use granola

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17 servings of about 1/3-1/2 cup: 416 Calories; 34g Fat; 17g Protein; 17g Carbohydrate; 9g Dietary Fiber; 8 grams usable carb