I have been making a concerted effort lately of packing magnesium-rich foods into my daily eating habits. Halibut and cooked spinach makes a tasty meal, but I cannot eat that every day. Also, munching on a variety of seeds can get boring pretty quickly. Then I realized, it doesn’t have to be that way: cocoa beans are a natural source of magnesium too!
Inspired by the Domestic Goddess herself, I modified this tasty crunchy snack. Goal: make in-taking more magnesium most enjoyable. Like Nigella says, the most difficult part of making granola is actually assembling the pantry ingredients (her granola recipes also appear in one of my favorite cookbooks, Feast). Almost every ingredient in my modified recipe is high in magnesium, and bonus points when added to yogurt, whole or soy milk. P.S. Also easily Vegan-friendly
1/4 cup natural cocoa
4 cups rolled oats
1 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon instant espresso
1/3 cup clover honey
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses*
1 cup light brown sugar
2 cups cocktail peanuts (nut allergies – replace with more seeds)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
Preheat oven to 300-degrees.
Mix everything together very well in a large mixing bowl (sometimes clean hands are the best and easiest tools for thorough mixing here). Half the mixture and spread in two baking tins (I had cookie sheets and lined them with parchment) and bake for 40 minutes, turning over half-way through baking. Allow to cool, break apart, and store in an airtight container.
*if you care for less of a molasses tang, use light molasses or substitute brown rice syrup/rice malt syrup like Nigella uses. I used blackstrap due to magnesium content and also because I happen to enjoy the molasses tang.
cozywalls 
This looks yummy. I love seeds and nuts. Prefer them savoury usually but might try that – I’ve never had molasses as far as I know 🙂
I actually wanted to ask a totally unconnected question: which Thermos flask that is that you have there – do you have the name of it? I’m looking for one that is good for taking a hot lunch to work and this one looks great and has simple clean lines and seems easy to pack into a bag too! Thanks 🙂
I love my Thermos, and it is great for taking hot lunches to work! You can find one like it here: http://www.target.com/p/Thermos-Food-Jar-Pink/-/A-13271705 it’s also BPA free, leakproof, dishwasher safe, etc. You have also inspired me to make some savory seed snacks 🙂
Thanks Amy! And I look forward to seeing what you come up with 🙂
This sure does sound like an enjoyable way to get your vitamins! 🙂
it is for me 🙂
And there’s no dairy in it! Yay, I can eat it! 😀
yay!
Ahhh, Blackstrap Molasses. A staple in every Hoosier’s kitchen! Um!
That looks like something my mom would love to try! Lol.
Wow, this is a very different version of granola. We often make our own, but never with molases. But this looks great and we will be trying. Thanks!
let me know what you think of the molasses version!
Mmmm, would love to try this. It seems like products and names of products differs from country to country. Would you mind telling me what is applesauce and where I’ll be likely to get blackstrap molasses?
Thanks!
Applesauce is cooked apples that have been mashed up. Where I live blackstrap molasses is available at grocery stores in the baking aisle (near the corn syrup, vegetable oil), but here’s a link for reference: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_10?url=search-alias%3Dgrocery&field-keywords=blackstrap+molasses&sprefix=blackstrap%2Chpc%2C150 And applesauce too: http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_nr_n_1?rh=n%3A16310101%2Ck%3Aapplesauce%2Cn%3A!16310211%2Cn%3A16318981&bbn=16310211&keywords=applesauce&ie=UTF8&qid=1336498784&rnid=16310211