Quinoa Granola - The Perfect Pesach Treat

My father is the king of granola, he makes the most fantastic toasty crunchy granola and makes huge batches every few weeks because we are all kind of obsessed with it. Even though I live 6,000 miles away from my parents I still get to enjoy the granola because my parents bring me big bags of it when they come and I ration it out until their next trip. This stuff is amazing and addictive!

However, every year we have to go 7 days (this year 8!) without the crunchy good stuff when Pesach comes around, well not anymore! Here is a simple recipe for quinoa granola and while it's quite different than the oat packed clusters that we enjoy the rest of year it's a great Pesach option when you need a crunchy topper to your yogurt, a grab n' go snack for chol hamoed trips or just something to munch on all Pesach long. Not only is this recipe great for Pesach it's also a great gluten-free alternative to regular granola.

Feel free to change up the honey for date syrup/silan, agave, or maple syrup. You can also change up the spices add ginger, clove, nutmeg and change up the dried fruit and nuts. Make this quinoa granola your own! Oh and be sure to triple the recipe because the first batch won't even make it from the sheet pan to the container!
Chag Kasher V'Sameach!

Quinoa Granola

1 cup uncooked quinoa
3/4 chopped nuts
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbs olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup dried fruit cut into chunks

Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper

In a large mixing bowl mix together the quinoa, nuts, honey, oil, salt, and cinnamon.
Once everything is well coated with the honey and oil pour the mixture on to the prepared sheet pan.

You don't want to add the dried fruit before baking as it will dry out too much and get too crispy.
Bake the granola for about 20-25 minutes until everything is golden brown. When you remove the quinoa granola from the oven it will be a very loose mixture as the honey has melted, but it will set up into crunchy clusters once it cools. Right when you remove the granola from the oven add the dried fruits and stir with the hot granola.

Allow the quinoa to cool completely for about 1 hour. Break into clusters and store in a zip-top bag or airtight container in the fridge.