Saturday, May 17, 2014

healthy homemade granola

 Most store-bought granola is loaded with sugar and/or unhealthy oils such as
canola oil. Even if you find a healthy brand, it's usually pretty expensive.
Making your own granola at home is much healthier and cheaper, too.
And you can tweak the ingredients to suit your taste.


Here's my go-to recipe:

HEALTHY GRANOLA
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup unsalted nuts or seeds, any combination
(pecans, walnuts, pistachios, almonds, cashews, pumpkin or sunflower seeds)
1/2 cup unsweetened organic shredded coconut
1 T flax seeds or meal
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil or organic coconut oil
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 cups dried fruit (raisins, currants, cherries, apricots)

Preheat oven to 300F. In large bowl, combine the oats - cinnamon.
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive or coconut oil and maple syrup.
Pour over the dry mixture and stir until well coated. Spread the granola
onto a rimmed 11x17" baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring halfway
through, until the oats and nuts are a deep golden color. Remove the granola
from the oven, stir in the fruit, and set the sheet on a wire rack to cool
completely. Seal in a tightly sealed jar for up to two weeks.
 

I love this granola stirred into plain Greek yogurt and topped with
fresh berries for breakfast. Enjoy!
 

20 comments:

  1. Yes, it looks delicious. I've made granola, especially when my children were teens. They preferred plenty of pecans and coconut in theirs.
    Store bought is really expensive and doesn't have nearly as much of the goodies like fruit and nuts either.

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    1. That's what I love about this recipe; it's so adaptable. You can use whatever kind of nuts and/or seeds and fruit you want and feel free to omit the coconut if you don't like it.

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  2. I love homemade granola...pinning! Thanks for sharing!

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  3. Sounds good, I have been thinking about granola for a while. Just found GF oats at Whole Foods so I'll give it a try. When I buy GF it's so expensive so this will help me keep costs down. See you on Thursday!

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    1. Yes, gluten-free products are so highly priced! Umm...we're supposed to meet up on Tuesday, not Thursday! Will privately email you.

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  4. Thanks for the recipe, Melanie. I love granola. I've been thinking about making some anyway, so I will have to try yours.

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    1. I hope you and your family like it, Jennifer!

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  5. Ok, I have everything to make this granola but i don't like maple syrup....I was raised on log cabin, on...not in;-) but really don't care for this flavor. What would you use to substitute? Tomorrow! Can't wait. Love, Penny

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    1. I can honestly tell you that this little bit of maple syrup doesn't make the granola taste "mapley" at all. It's merely used as a natural sweetener. I was raised on Log Cabin, too but I wouldn't touch that stuff now - take a look at the list of ingredients! The first ingredient is corn syrup. Yikes! Anyway, the only thing I can think of to replace the maple syrup would be raw honey.

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  6. Your granola looks good. We don't eat cereal for breakfast, but maybe we should mix up our yogurt regimen with some yogurt.

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    1. I think you meant to say mix up your yogurt regimen with some granola, lol. I don't eat cereal for breakfast either; that's why I like the granola mixed into the yogurt.

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  7. This looks so good, Melanie, and healthy too!
    Mary Alice

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    1. It is, Mary Alice - I hope you give the recipe a try!

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  8. Oh my gosh, this sounds sooooo good! I just bought some Bear Naked granola the other night, for exactly the purpose you stated. I love mixing it in with my yogurt! Thanks for your sweet comments on my Nana and her parakeets! Such great memories :)
    Donna

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    1. I love mixing granola into yogurt - makes a great breakfast!

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  9. I am going to put it in my oatmeal.

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    1. I don't know how that would work since this is mainly oats, too! :-)

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