Chai Tea Granola

Chai tea stands strong as my favorite kind of tea! In India, chai is a combination of ginger, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and pepper. In America, it can refer to a number of kinds of black tea. Regardless, I can always count on a soothing mix of spices when I sip a cup of Chai tea.

So, I looked up the spices that go into a bag of Chai deliciousness, and tried to replicate it in a recipe for another one of my favorites: granola!

Ingredients:

Granola:
1/2 cup quick oats
3  cups rolled oats
1 cup flaked almonds
2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup agave
2 egg whites
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp salt

Chai Spices:
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cloves
3 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp ground nutmeg* (I didn't have ground cardamom so I used nutmeg as a substitute)

Directions: Makes 5 cups

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. 
2. In a small bowl, combine the chai spices and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine the rolled oats, quick oats, flaked almonds, salt, and shredded coconut.
4. In a separate small bowl, combine the brown sugar, agave, egg whites, and almond extract.
5. Add the Chai spices and the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in the large bowl. Mix until combined.
6. Grease 2 cookie sheets. Spread the granola evenly on both cookie sheets.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so. After the full cooking time, let cool for 15 minutes without stirring so that the granola forms clumps. 
8. Enjoy! Serve with yogurt, oatmeal, ice cream, or milk.