Present shopping for parents is so difficult. Anybody with me? I used to be the one that would be thinking about gift ideas in October just to get all Christmas shopping done and over with weeks in advance. Now that I’m running low on ideas, because dad can only wear so many pairs of socks and mom can only use so many tubes of lipstick, I just kind of let it be until I have an epiphany of some sort or run into something suitable. That usually leaves me scrambling around on the 24th though.
One year, my brother and I decided to join forces and surprise our parents with a Christmas morning breakfast. We were both still in elementary school and our cooking skills were, well, essentially nonexistent. We blocked the staircase with a sign that read “Do not come down!” to lock our parents upstairs while we wrecked havoc in the kitchen. Just kidding, about the havoc part; we didn’t light the house on fire. About an hour later, we served up two hard boil eggs with some toast and fruit. ‘Twas well received.
This whole let’s-get-up-before-mom-and-dad-to-make-breakfast became an annual tradition. Despite being old enough to handle more advanced cooking, the menu didn’t change very much over the years. To this day it is still eggs and toast, although we’ve switched it up with some eggs in a nest or easy over eggs. I didn’t learn how to make scrambled eggs until I got into high school. My roommate always makes fun of the fact that I can bake a whole cake but can’t scramble eggs. I guess it wasn’t that I didn’t know how, but more like I just never did it before. Don’t worry, I know how now (but my dad doesn’t, haha!)
After we finished eating breakfast, we’d run over to our Christmas tree room and each take over a sofa. Still in our pajamas, my dad would read us the Christmas story. We’d then snap a few photos before distributing all the presents under the tree. After a game of rock paper scissors, the winner would get to open their first gift. Then we’d rotate around until all the presents are unwrapped and there is tape and wrapping paper all over the carpet.
It’s extremely hard to find a gift that will genuinely surprise members of my family. Over the years, we’ve developed this habit of hiding gifts elsewhere in the house and wrapping a riddle to place under the tree, or stuffing the gift into another box and adding weight just to throw the person off when they try to guess what it is.
This year, surprise your friends or family with some homemade granola at breakfast. I love my granola crispy and clumpy, and this Vegan Gingerbread Granola is exactly that! Compressing the granola before baking ensures clumpy granola each time. A breakfast of Vegan Gingerbread Granola won’t leave you feeling heavy and like you’ve gotten a head start on holiday weight gain because it’s only sweetened with date paste and molasses. That being said, if you do prefer a sweeter cereal, I suggest adding 1/4 cup more date paste or a few tablespoons of maple syrup. Make a batch a day or two in advance so it’ll be ready to be served with chilled almond milk on Christmas morning. This granola infuses the milk with gingerbread flavours making every last smackerel delicious.
Leave a comment below letting us know what Christmas traditions your family has!
- 3 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 cup raw pecans, roughly chopped
- ½ cup coconut chips
- ⅓ cup chocolate chips
- A pinch of pink Himalayan salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1½ tsp ground ginger
- A pinch each of freshly grated nutmeg and allspice
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil
- ½ cup date paste*
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 3 tbsp molasses
- Preheat oven to 325⁰F and line a large cookie sheet with a silicon baking mat.
- In a large mixing bowl, toss together the oats, pecans, coconut chips, chocolate chips, salt, and spices.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the melted coconut oil, date paste, vanilla extract, maple syrup, and molasses until smooth.
- Pour the wet mixture into the large mixing bowl with the oats and mix until thoroughly coated.
- Spread mixture onto a prepared cookie sheet and press down into a uniform layer.
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until browned and fragrant. Cool completely before transferring granola into a jar.
Where is the applesauce in the ingredients? When do you add the date paste!
Hi Bridget, I’m so sorry for the typo. There is no applesauce in the recipe as the date paste fills that role; I had forgotten to edit that step after copying and pasting from our Apple Pie Granola. My apologies for the silly mistake!