I’ve mentioned a time or two that my family gave up boxed cereal years ago. In its place, we’ve inserted homemade granola. We switch out the recipe a few times each year, swapping in a pumpkin version in the fall, for example. This recipe, though, makes a standard, lightly sweetened, super yummy granola. If you want to, you can throw in a cup of raisins or dried fruit. We skip that to keep the sugar down. Serve with milk or stirred into a bowl of organic whole milk yogurt with fresh berries for a wholesome breakfast that tastes a lot like dessert!
Vanilla maple granola
Prep Time:
10 minutes
Cook Time:
2 hours
Total Time:
2 hours 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 7 c rolled oats
- 1 c unsweetened coconut
- 1 c flaxseed meal
- 1 c almonds
- 1 c pecan pieces
- 1 c sunflower seeds, raw
- 1 c pepitas
- 1/2 c dry milk
- 1 t. cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 c coconut oil
- 1 c maple syrup
- 1 T pure vanilla
Instructions
- Combine first ten ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well. In a second bowl, combine coconut oil, syrup and vanilla. Whisk until combined. Slowly pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix until all of the dry ingredients are well-moistened.
- Spread granola into a large, shallow baking dish (or spread evenly over two cookie sheets). Bake at 250 degrees for two hours, stirring every twenty minutes. When the granola is done, it should not be moist anymore. Additionally, the color will be slightly golden. Remove from oven and spread on sheets of wax paper to cool. Granola can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for two weeks.
SOURCE: slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour
Gotta try this. We’ve been buying “Ancient Grains” granola from Costco, but I’ve meaning to try homemade granola. I’m sure it’s considerably cheaper (not to mention fresher + tastier).
Questions:
(1) Do you need to grease the baking dish?
(2) How much granola does this make?
(3) What kind of container do you store it in?
The first time I tried homemade granola, I was surprised because it isn’t as clumpy as what you buy in the store. The reason is simple: it has less sugar. This recipe, especially, is only very slightly sweet. So be prepared for that if you try it.
Answers:
(1) I don’t grease the baking dish but a light coating wouldn’t hurt if you are so inclined.
(2) I have never actually measured the yield, but based strictly on the ingredient list, I would guess that it’s somewhere around twelve cups. We use it almost strictly as a yogurt mix-in and it lasts us two weeks. If you were to use it as a dry cereal and serve it with milk, it would not last as long. I know that isn’t terribly technical, but hopefully it gives you an idea.
(3) I store it in an airtight (bpa free!) OXO container, but any airtight container will do.
Let me know if you enjoy it!
This sounds (and looks!) delicious – I shall give it a go! I’m a granola lover and buy mine from Marks & Spencer here in London and usually have it with greek yoghurt and blueberries but yours looks so fresh and wholesome, can’t wait to try it out (and I LOVE pecan nuts). Thanks for sharing with us :-)
Cate would love this! We buy a vanilla granola in the bulk section of our grocery store that she LOVES, but I’ve never made granola from scratch. I might have to try this. Thanks for sharing.
More questions:
(1) Where do you buy your pepitas?
(2) Do you use Quaker brand oats?
(3) How “coconut-y” does this granola taste?
Thanks. :)
(1) At Trader Joe’s
(2) Yes, purchased from Costco
(3) We like coconut, so I may not be a fair judge because the taste of it doesn’t bother me, but I would say that it’s not terribly coconut-y. Maybe try omitting the coconut and swapping in a different cooking oil (or applesauce) if you don’t so much care for coconut?
Best thing I’ve ever eaten. Our family has been avoiding breakfast cereals after learning all of the horrific ingredients that are pumped into the most important meal of the day. This recipe is absolute bliss.