You might be a granola girl (or guy) if you’ve ever said “Rub some coconut oil on it” to a friend, brushed your teeth with activated charcoal, or dreamed of having a chicken coop in your backyard. Then again, you might just be one if you like granola.
Whichever type you are, you’re going to love this crunchy, delicious, maple syrup-infused healthy granola recipe. It was shared with me by my friend Carol of Ditch The Wheat, and she has generously allowed me to share it with you!
Naturally gluten-free and refined sugar-free, this homemade granola fills the house with a sweet, mapley-cinnamon vanilla aroma while it’s baking. It’s so much easier to make than you might think, too. Just take a bunch of nuts and seeds you enjoy and add some maple syrup, then add flavorings like vanilla and cinnamon.
The next step is to bake it and break it apart once it’s cool. Feel free to add dried fruit or chocolate chips to the finished granola if you’d like, just make sure it’s cooled first.
After that all you need to do is try not to eat it all at once – that’s definitely the hardest part!
6 Ways to Use This Healthy Granola Recipe
Here are some of my favorite ways to incorporate granola in my kitchen:
- Mixed with yogurt
- With regular milk or a dairy-free option like almond, coconut or oat milk (eat like you would cereal)
- As a crunchy topping for slow cooker apples
- Sprinkled on top of fresh fruit (seasonal berries or a sliced banana are good options)
- Stirred into gluten-free oatmeal or chia seed pudding
- Over a salad with fresh berries or apples
Have questions? See the FAQ section at the bottom of this post. If it isn’t covered there please leave a comment and let me know.
Also, if you love this granola recipe . . . . and I know you will, be sure to check out Carol’s cookbook, Ditch the Wheat.
Healthy Granola Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup almonds (slivered)
- 1 cup large coconut flakes
- 1 cup sunflower seeds
- 1 cup pecans (chopped)
- 6 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300° F.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium or large bowl, toss together the almond slivers, coconut flakes, sunflower seeds, and pecans.
- In a separate small mixing bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon and salt.
- Stir in the liquid by pouring it over the bowl of nuts and mixing thoroughly.
- Press the mixture into the pan. It will resemble a large granola bar.
- Bake until just lightly golden brown on top, about 35-40 minutes.
- Allow the granola to cool. Once cooled, break it into pieces and store in an air-tight container.
Notes
Tried this recipe?
Mention @mommypotamus or tag #mommypotamus!
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and chopped macadamia nuts are some of my favorite substitutions.
Are we talking shelf life or how long it will last before everyone eats it all? Those are very different things! For shelf life, I’d say it will last a month (or maybe a little more) in a sealed mason jar or airtight container.
Although making homemade granola can save money and allows ingredients to be customized according to an individual family’s needs, sometimes it makes more sense to buy pre-made options. When that’s the case for me, I buy this paleo granola, which is chewy and delicious as “cereal.”
More Granola Recipes To Try
Pumpkin Spice Granola – This easy recipe is delicious with milk or almond milk. It also makes a great on-the-go snack.
Apricot & Walnut Granola Bars – This recipe for soft granola bars is chock-full of dried fruit, nuts and the natural sweetness of honey and banana.
Making this today!
This looks delicious, I need to try it!
This granola is super easy to make and really addicting!
Thanks for sharing!
My house smelled heavenly, until it didn’t. I’d watch this very closely! 20 minutes was too long for my batch, unfortunately.
*40 minutes
Same here
Second time making this and it is fabulous! I did turn the temp down to 300 and it was perfect.
We have made this recipe several times over the last two months. It’s delicious!! I agree though that 40 minutes is too long. I burnt my very first batch to a crisp. 🙁 We have settled around 30 minutes at 325. Thanks for the recipe!!!
Made this today, I substituted pine nuts for the sunflower seeds and it turned out great. Crunchy and sweet.
Would it be advised to soak the nuts first, or don’t you bother?
Yes, I do presoak using this method https://mommypotamus.com/how-to-soak-and-dehydrate-nuts-the-nourishing-traditions-way/
Thank you, Heather! I have recently found your blog and find it so inspiring and helpful! Plus, I can just tell that you are a sweetheart and your children are just precious!
This sounds/looks great! Any ideas for increasing the resistant starch for the recipe? Have you tried any variations, that included added resistant starch, which turned out good? My husband is always on the lookout for a healthy snack for work. He would love this.
That should have said “handy snack”. He likes to have easy to eat, homemade snacks to take to work. Anyhow, I wanted to let you know that I made your granola today and it was really good. It has a really good flavor. Thank you for the recipe.
Have made this and it is delicious. I use it for breakfast and also as a dessert to sprinkle on top of seasonal berries.
I agree, it is! I’ll let Carol know you said so next time I talk to her 🙂
Thank you for your blog post. Really thank you!
I’ve made this over a dozen time. Great yogurt topper. None of the other granola recipes on the web have come out quite as good as yours and they are usually much more complicated too.
Hi Heather,
Are you not concerned about the amount of oxalate in food?
Eating a few Granola bars a day together with my low oxalate
food intake, will put me over the daily oxalate allowance.
I would love to hear if oxalate is another hype on the market.