Almond Butter Coconut Granola

I am almost ashamed to admit that I hardly put on my baking gloves this spring break. Aside from making my banana-oatmeal-almond butter muffins, as well as my egg white vegetable bars, I did absolutely zero baking, much to my family's dismay. I did get back into my baking groove today, but this creation is to take back to Austin with me. I guess my family will just have to wait until the next time I come home to enjoy some fresh baked cookies!

Workout

We'll start with a workout before we get to the recipe. I woke up around 7:20 this morning, thinking I would get over a solid hour of work in on my research paper before my 9:15am spin class. Instead, I turned on ABC Family and watched Boy Meets World. And I can't say that I regret it. I have actually finished writing the paper (5000+ words and counting..), but now I am struggling to work with footnote citations. It's taking quite a bit longer than expected, and that might be due to the fact that I did not do a very diligent job of keeping track of the sources I used, so the struggle I am currently experiencing is all on me.

This is about how I feel right now (Source)

Anyway, just like last Friday, I attended the 9:15am spin class at the MAC. It's a 70-minute spin class and it is tough. This week's class might have been tougher than Felipe's. Long hills were the star of today's class, and my already-tired legs were not happy about it. I completed every hill until the final four-minute standing hill. I did four minutes of speed work (100+ RPM) instead. It was a successful class, and I will miss my favorite spin instructors upon my return to Austin!

Lunch

I needed a break from staring at my computer screen, so I headed up to Town and Country Village around 2:00 and ordered a Wildfield with Grilled Chicken Salad from La Madeleine. I'm not usually a salad girl, but La Madeleine has one of my very favorites. It was delicious, and it fueled me for a serious baking session.

Almond Butter Coconut Granola

I believe I have mentioned making almond butter granola on the blog before. This recipe is very similar, I just added some coconut flakes for some additional sweetness, as well as a handful of chia seeds.

Ingredients (makes one batch)

• 4 tbsp almond butter
• 4 tbsp honey
• 2 cups oats
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup coconut flakes
• 3 tbsp chia seeds
• Sprinkle of cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit

2. Combine almond butter and honey in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for approximately 30 seconds

3. Stir almond butter and honey together

4. Add the oats and stir the entire mixture together

5. Add coconut flakes, vanilla, chia seeds, and cinnamon and stir everything together, fully coating the oats

6. Spray PAM or another cooking spray onto a baking pan and spread oats into the pan

7. Bake for eight minutes, take oats out of the oven and stir/toss them, and bake for four more minutes

8. Enjoy!

In addition to two batches of granola, I made three dozen of my banana-oatmeal-almond butter muffins, so I should have them for days and days.

And now I'm off to get ready for the rodeo. Gayle and I are going together for the tenth year in a row, and I could not be more excited. This is my first time to go this year, and the Houston Rodeo is one of my favorite Houston traditions!