Layering a thick smoothie with granola and yogurt is the ultimate in healthy brunch decadence and it’s good enough to eat for dessert. You can use any smoothie and granola you like, here I kept the flavors tropical for a bit of a pick me up from the dreary winter weather. Smoothies are a really great item to incorporate into a healthy diet because they are flexible to your individual preferences and since the food is completely blended they are less work for your digestive system to break down. To make them more filling I like to add in seeds, nut butters, yogurt and oats, but separating some of the ingredients into different components and layering them can be a good way to mix things up. Be careful with pre-made granola, many versions out there (even the organic artisan ones) so are filled with sugar to the point that they are not much better than cookies. Its best to compare a few labels, the black and white box on the back breaks down all the nutritional info, and go for one of the ones on the lower end of the scale.
- 3 cups oats
- 1 cup dried tropical fruits (I used half pineapple and half bananas)
- ⅔ cup natural peanut butter
- ½ cup macadamia nuts
- ⅓ cup cold-pressed coconut oil
- ¼ cup dried coconut ribbons
- ¼ cup palm (coconut) sugar (or raw or brown sugar)
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- Preheat oven to 325°. Mix the oats, peanut butter, coconut oil, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and allspice together well in a bowl and then lay out on parchment lined baking sheet. If the coconut oil is solid place it in the oven in a small bowl for a couple minutes to heat it up enough to become liquid. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through to ensure it browns evenly. Once cooked, add in the rest of the ingredients, leave it out to cool completely and then store in a jar in the cupboard.
- ½ cup tropical granola (or granola of choice) + 1 spoonful for the top
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt or coconut yogurt
- Smoothie
- 1 banana
- ¼ cup almond milk
- 1 date
- ⅛ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 dash cinnamon
- Optional: 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter
- Blend the smoothie ingredients and then pour half into a tall, narrow glass. Top with half of the yogurt then half of the granola, then the second half of yogurt and the second half of the granola. Top off with the rest of the smoothie and a spoonful of granola.
