This simple granola recipe is highly customizable based on ingredients already in your pantry and contains no refined sugar.
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I live in the Midwest and last week we were slammed with some nasty, cold weather. Like -25 degrees cold. Weather where pipes freeze and cars don’t start. Amazingly, I was gifted two days off from work in the middle of the week to ensure no one froze to death on the way to work if their car broke down. (Yup, it was really cold).
Consequently, I was then sort of stuck in the house for two days. Day one: amazing-took a nap, read a book, binge watched Netflix. Day two: starting to feel a little stir crazy. Decided to clean out my pantry and in doing so, went ahead and made a batch of granola with the contents of my pantry. (I also made a batch of these cupcakes with this frosting cause life is about balance).
Granola is one of those breakfast items that I absolutely adore but never want to pay for. (Why is granola so expensive)? It’s perfect heaped on some thick Greek yogurt. Lately I’ve taken to eating it straight in a bowl, drowned in some almond milk. Luckily, it’s also super easy to make at home and can be customized based on the ingredients already in your pantry.
I have a really lovely recipe for homemade granola already on the blog, but this recipe cuts out all the refined sugar. I have included two recipes-one is exactly the granola shown in this picture and the other is a simple recipe to follow to create a delicious granola based on your own pantry ingredients and general taste preferences.
Simple Granola with No Refined Sugar
Ingredients
- 3 cups old fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup steel cut oats
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 1 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/2 cup sweetened, dried coconut
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup orange juice or juice from 1 large orange
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- In a large bowl, combine oats, walnuts, sunflower seeds, maple syrup, honey, olive oil, orange juice, vanilla and cinnamon. Stir together until all ingredients are coated.
- Line one large or two smaller rimmed cookie sheets with parchment. If you don’t have parchment, grease the pan. Spread granola out on sheet so it’s in one layer.
- Bake for about 1 hour. Every 15-20 minutes, stir the granola so that all the sides get crispy. When the granola is a golden brown and mostly dry remove from the oven. (it may be slightly damp feeling when you remove it from the oven but it will crisp up).
- Allow granola to cool completely. Once cool, pour from cookie sheets into a large bowl. Add dried cranberries and stir to combine. Store in airtight container. If you aren’t going to use it for awhile, you can freeze it.
Notes
Basic Granola
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups oats old-fashioned, steel cut, quick oats
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts pecans, walnuts, almonds
- 1 cup seeds sunflower seeds, pepitas, sesame seeds
- 1 1/2 cups dried fruit raisins, coconut, craisins, dried cherries, dried mango
- 1 cup liquid sugar honey, maple syrup, agave
- 1/4 cup oil olive oil, safflower oil
- 1/4 cup orange juice or juice from 1 large orange
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.
- In a large bowl, combine oats, nuts, seeds, liquid sugar, oil, orange juice, vanilla, and cinnamon. Stir to combine until all the dry ingredients are coated.
- Line 1 large or 2 small rimmed baking sheets with parchment (or grease the pan if you don’t have parchment). Spread the granola mixture onto the baking sheets in one layer.
- Bake for about 1 hour. Every 15-20 minutes stir the granola. The granola is finished baking when it’s a deep golden color and it doesn’t feel wet. It may still feel slightly damp but it will crisp up when it cools.
- Allow granola to cool completely. After it has cooled, pour into a large bowl and mix in dried fruit. Store in airtight container and enjoy!