Let's talk about Izy.
If you're not familiar with Top With Cinnamon, I'm feeling terribly sorry for you right about now. Izy's blog is preeeeettty badass. (Okay, much more than just pretty badass, it's totally, absolutely, one hundred percent badder than all of the asses ever. Including Kim and Nicki and Iggy and J.Lo's.) Izy's also British.... and I have this fantasy that if/when I ever meet her IRL, I'll instantly objectify her accent (out of pure love) and probably hound her about whether or not she knows a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend who knows a One Direction boy.
Best of all, Izy's freaking EIGHTEEN and just released the most equally as badass cookbook!!! File under: life goals slash productive-things-I-could-have-been-doing-at-18-but-I-was-too-busy-doing-this.
I bought Izy's book, Top With Cinnamon, on my trip to New York and spent the whole three hour flight home reading and rereading each and every recipe until I forced myself to call for more blue chips out of pure hangry rage. (Thanks jetBlue, you are bae.) Seriously y'all, this cookbook is LEGIT. The pictures. The words. The food. THE EVERYTHING. I keep it out in my kitchen to flip through it whenever I need some inspiration or try to figure out what an 'aubergine' is. Spoiler alert: it's an eggplant.
I love Izy's book so so so much, that I'm giving away a copy today! You can enter through the widget below and by commenting on this post telling about one of your personal favorite cookbooks. I want to hear all about the ones that you swear by, because that's exactly how I feel about Top With Cinnamon. (This is in no way sponsored, I'm just a really excited fangirl.)
The cookbook is full of so many amazing recipes. Luckily for me, it's pretty sweet heavy, but there's a good chunk of savory in there too — I like to call this real food, pre-dessert. No but really, I would do naughty things to this halloumi, quinoa and pomegranate salad, y'all.
I'm not the biggest breakfast person, but Izy's granola recipe got me hooked on having a supercute yogurt parfait almost every morning before school because it's that damn good. Screw all of the oven madness, her granola is made by toasting oats and almonds on your stovetop for a hot minute, mixing in some coconut oil and a natural sweetener like agave or honey, et voila! Granola in ten minutes flat. After making her original mixture, I used that same process and made my own wintery mix, complete with pistachios, dried cherries, and chopped dark chocolate because chocolate for breakfast is the ultimate morning win. Cop the recipe below and I'm sure you'll be joining me in my usual granola happy dance I do every morning.
Dark Chocolate, Pistachio, and Cherry Granola
(adapted from Top With Cinnamon)
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup roasted salted pistachios, coarsely chopped
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 3 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds (optional, but #health)
- 1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped
- half a bar (1.75 oz or 50g) quality dark chocolate, chopped
Directions
Place the oats and chopped pistachios into a pan. Toast over high heat for for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Make a well in the center of the pan and add in the coconut oil and agave. Stir until the whole mixture is evenly coated.
Remove the pan from heat and let the granola cool for 5-10 minutes. Once slightly cool, add the chia seeds, dried cherries, and dark chocolate. Stir the mixture quickly to combine. (The chocolate will begin to melt, but this coats the granola with extra chocolatey flavor.) Once thoroughly mixed, serve the granola or transfer to a tightly-sealed container to store.