Tasty and Healthy Homemade Granola

Paul and I like to eat granola but frankly most of the granola out there that you can buy is full of fat and sugar, and over-processed. Making your own granola, however, is quite easy. My granola recipe is influenced by Kathleen Daeleman’s crunchy granola recipe from her book Cooking Thin with Chef Kathleen, but I’ve made it even healthier by reducing the sugar and adding chia, flax, and cocoa nibs. It’s of course a completely plant-based (vegan) recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 cup organic coconut sugar or organic brown sugar
• ½-cup water
• 4 tablespoons of organic chia seeds
• 2 tablespoons of organic ground flax
• 2 teaspoons organic vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 8 cups organic rolled oats
• 1 cup of chopped nuts (e.g., cashews, almonds, pistachios)
• ¼-cup cocoa nibs (optional)
• 1 cup of dried fruit (e.g, cherries, cranberries, raisins, currants)
• Coconut flakes (optional)

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
3. Using a 4-cup microwave proof glass measuring cup, add your sugar and water, and microwave for 1-2 minutes until the sugar is dissolved. Add chia, flax, vanilla, and salt to the measuring cup and let stand for 10-15 minutes.
4. Get out your biggest bowl, and combine the oats and nuts with the contents of the glass measuring cup. Add the cocoa nibs if you are using them.
5. Mix well then spread the granola onto cookie sheets.

Ready for the oven.

6. Bake for 90 minutes.
7. After removing the granola from the oven, add dried fruit and other mix-ins like coconut flakes.
8. Let the granola cool completely, before storing it in an airtight container.

Fresh out of the oven.

Carefully pouring the granola from the parchment paper into a glass container after it has cooled.

Variations

Each time I make this recipe, I vary the nuts and dried fruit used. Some great flavor combinations I’ve made in the past:

• Pistachio & dried cherry
• Almond & cranberry

Today’s mix included:

• cashews,
• currents,
• and sweetened coconut flakes.

I usually use 1-cup of nuts and 1-cup of dried fruit, but you can adjust to suit your needs. You can use either raw nuts, or roasted/lightly salted nuts.