Here's my feeling: if I'm going to take the time roast one beet for this recipe, I'm going to roast several. The others will be used for sandwiches or salads throughout the week. This recipe only calls for ½ cup purée. If you have extra, stir it into hummus or, add almond milk, cocoa powder, a pitted date and a few chocolate chips to the blender: breakfast!
Don't have time to prepare the beets? Love Beets offers a variety that are roasted, peeled and just ready to be blended. If you haven't seen them, look in the produce department.
In spite of having three types of sweeteners, this is not a very sweet granola. If you prefer your granola sweeter, I would recommend increasing the brown sugar (not the liquid sweeteners, which would change your wet to dry ratio). Alternatively, you can increase the sweetness as eating by sprinkling brown sugar at that point, drizzling on a bit more molasses or adding dried fruit.
Lastly, the egg white is optional. I use it to help encourage clumping amongst the oats, but if you're short on time, have an egg allergy or don't care about clusters, it's fine to eliminate.
What you'll need
Beet Puree
1 large beet (at least 12 ounces)
⅓ cup water
Granola
3 cups rolled oats
1 ½ cups sunflower seeds
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup large unsweetened coconut flakes
⅓ cup sesame seeds
¼ cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Heaping ½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup beet purée
3 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon olive oil or melted coconut oil
1 egg white, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
How you'll make it
For Beets
Heat oven to 400°F. Trim root ends from beet; scrub and wash. Wrap wet beet in aluminum foil; place on baking sheet. Roast 1 hour, or until tender. When cool enough to handle, use foil to peel beets (it should come right off). Keep in mind that your hands (and surface) will probably turn a bit pink; if this is a concern, wear gloves.
Chop beets (at this point, I had 7 ounces of beets). Add to blender with water; blend until smooth. If the mixture needs a bit more water, feel free to add a couple tablespoons until it is able to be pureed into a smooth mixture. Measure ½ cup; save remaining for another use.
For Beet Granola
Heat oven to 300°F.
In large bowl, combine oats, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, coconut flakes, sesame seeds, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Stir together to make sure that everything is evenly distributed.
In liquid measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together beet purée, molasses, honey, oil, egg white, if using, and vanilla extract.
Add liquid ingredients to dry; using a spatula, mix very well, until completely incorporated and everything is wet.
Spread granola mixture evenly on one parchment lined rimmed baking sheet (I find that it's helpful to weigh two corners of the parchment down with measuring cups or measuring spoons (see picture above), to prevent the parchment from curling up.
Bake about 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes, and redistributing before putting back into the oven. OK, now this is annoying, but after 45 minutes, I like to check every 5 minutes to make sure it doesn't burn. When you pull the granola from the oven, it will be soft. Once the granola is golden, I like to pull out a couple pieces and place them on the counter (keeping the rest of the granola in the oven). If those pieces firm up and are completely crispy, I remove the entire pan from the oven.
Let cool completely. Transfer to airtight containers. Store in fridge.
*Recipe inspired by Nigella Lawson, David Lebovitz and Orangette.
How to plan ahead
• Roast the beets up to three days ahead of time. • Make the beet purée up to three days ahead of time. • Mix together the dry ingredients and store in an airtight container several days ahead of time. • This granola keeps for a very long time, especially if stored in the fridge. Make it whenever you have a moment.
Recipe by at https://www.lifeaswecookit.com/beet-coconut-and-molasses-granola/