Last weekend I attended the Inspire Retreat at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah hosted by my good friend Carrian of Sweet Basil. I just love that girl. She organized a weekend retreat for bloggers to come relax, collaborate, eat a lot of really good food, and inspire each other. I’ll have a full recap of the weekend up next week.
Of course you’d expect food bloggers to eat a lot of good food when we get together. We ate at a couple of incredible restaurants, but we also had the opportunity to prepare meals for each other. I’ve always wanted to see other food bloggers in action:) I helped prepare breakfast one morning (sponsored by a few great brands–Star Fine Foods, Real Foods Market, Charming Beard Coffee and Anolon) and we kept it real simple- fruit and yogurt granola bar with scrambled eggs and muffins. My kind of breakfast!
I made this Blueberry Almond Chia Granola– full of dried blueberries, toasty almonds, coconut, and chia seeds! I sweetened it with agave nectar and just a pinch of brown sugar. It’s great with milk, yogurt and fruit, or just to eat by the handfuls. This recipe makes a huge batch so you may want to cut it in half. Brett was thrilled I came home with leftovers, he’s been eating it all week.
Becky from Vintage Mixer also made this Cherry and Hazelnut Granola, it was incredible! Plus, she knows the secret to getting big clusters of granola, which I love. Now I know for next time!
- 6 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- 1 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 1 1/4 cups chia seeds
- 1 cup agave
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1 1/2 cup dried blueberries
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 2 egg whites, whisked
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- In a large bowl combine oats, almonds, coconut, chia seeds, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.
- Melt coconut oil and add to the oat mixture. Stir in whisked egg whites. Pour in agave and almond extract and stir until everything is evenly mixed.
- Spread mixture out onto two baking sheets. Bake for 30-40 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes. Bake until golden and toasty. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Stir in blueberries.
- Store in air-tight container.
It was such a blast getting to spend a weekend with you and you were so nice to love on Everett from the beginning of the weekend to the end! I enjoyed every bite of your granola and especially loved the blueberries and chia seeds in it! Lets set a cooking or lunch date for January! Maybe we could do two versions of something else.
I would love that, let’s plan it for January! I loved huggin’ on Everett, I still can’t believe what a good little baby he is!
I’d probably pass on the blueberries but I do love granola!
I am having trouble locating Becky’s blog. There is either just a picture of her and a paragraph only, or links to a website that is for sale. Please advise. I am enjoying your posts and recipes on sweettreatsmore.com, also. Thanks!