Homemade Maple Granola
Why make homemade granola when there are countless delicious options out there? At the time of writing this post, it is January, and in January we’re always looking for ways to be a little healthier. Most store-bought granola is loaded with sugar and preservatives. Maybe there are some nuts you’re allergic to. When you make it at home you can control exactly what goes in it. This recipe has no refined sugar and it can be made from start to finish in around 40 minutes. Though there is some cooling time required after you take it out of the oven so allow time for that. It lasted me and my husband for more than a week. Not bad.
I have it on top of my husband’s homemade greek yogurt for breakfast, and just straight out of the jar as an afternoon snack. I bet it would be amazing on top of ice cream…
This is a really flexible recipe. Don’t like pecans? Try walnuts. Don’t like almonds or almond butter? Try peanuts and peanut butter. I go a bit heavy on the cardamom, but you can scale it back. This is one of the rare recipes where you can experiment with quantities and your bake will still turn out okay.
Homemade Maple Granola Recipe:
Difficulty:
So easy!
Prep time:
10 minutes
Cook time:
25 minutes
Ingredients:
1¾ cup (154 grams) whole oats (Not steel cut or quick oats. You won’t end up with the crispy granola texture.)
½ cup (70 grams) almonds, roughly chopped
½ cup (54 grams) pecans, roughly chopped
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cardamom
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup (80 grams) maple syrup
⅓ cup (91 grams) almond butter. Smooth not chunky, and the kind that you don’t need to stir works best.
3 TBSP (41 grams) coconut oil or canola oil
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 300° F .
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, stir together oats, almonds, pecans, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom.
In a small bowl, stir together almond butter, coconut oil and maple syrup until well combined.
Pour the almond butter mixture into the oat mixture and stir until well combined.
Tip: The mixture may seem very dry at first but keep stirring and it will all get coated.
Pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet, spread out to an even layer across the pan and gently press down with the back of a spatula to even out and create those “chunks” of granola we all love. See the below photo for an example of it all pressed together.
Bake for 25 minutes until granola is golden brown. Check about 5 minutes early so you don’t burn the nuts.
Allow your granola to cool completely before breaking it up and storing in an airtight container.
Tip: It will be soft when you first take it out of the oven but will crisp up after about 30 minutes. That’s the right time to sneak a taste!
