Healthy Granola Recipe You'll Love!

This home-made granola recipe is SO good and healthy, you won't have to worry about added sugar, the wrong vegetable oils, or added flavorings and preservatives.

And, it's a heck of a lot cheaper than commercial granolas in the stores! You can select your own organic ingredients and get PLAYFUL with it! It's healthy, nutritious and delicious.

One thing I LOVE about this healthy granola recipe is that making granola is SO creative! You can add what you love, omit what you don't, and create many variations to suit your whimsy of the moment.

THE BASICS

The base is always oats (organic flakes if you can), then you add various combinations of seeds, nuts, maybe a bit of dehydrated organic fruit (if it's organic, it's sulfur and preservative-free), a few extra surprises like coconut flakes, chia, buckwheat, etc. Then, you coat the mixture with a bit of melted coconut oil and organic maple syrup, and.... ta-da! Done!

You'll need a couple of cookie sheets and parchment paper (I like to make a large batch) and a glass jar or other container for safe storage.

Ready to WOW your taste buds with this delightful gift you can give yourself? (And your loved ones if they behave...) It's great as a stand-alone snack, on top of home-made ice-cream or fresh fruit. (I sometimes decorate my oatmeal with it, too!)

SPECIAL NOTE BEFORE WE START:

Some folks avoid grains, seeds and nuts these days because they find them hard to digest. If that's you, you may want to soak them ahead of time to neutralize the naturally occurring phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors, designed by nature to keep them from sprouting until the ideal scenario of sun, water and earth are present for them to grow.

These "anti-nutrients" are there to protect them. Unfortunately, for some folks, they can get in the way of absorption of minerals, and sometimes people feel bloated.

Soaking nuts, seeds, and grains ahead of time neutralizes enzyme inhibitors, releases the full nutrient potential of the food, and makes them more digestible.

I'll be honest and say that I don't ALWAYS soak them ahead of time (I definitely soak my almonds when I make home-made almond-milk). Granola is something I indulge in periodically, and I haven't found that it upsets my tummy.

If you want to learn more about soaking grains, seeds and nuts, you can go here. But first, please check out the recipe!

Okay. Now that THAT'S out of the way...

INGREDIENTS

You can be playful with these amounts. Granola is very forgiving.

6-8 cups organic oat flakes

1 c. raw pumpkin seeds

1 c. buckwheat groats

1/2 c. organic Chia seeds

1 c. mixed nuts and organic cranberries (you can use a trail mix mixture - chopped)

3 Tbl. melted organic coconut oil (needs to coat a lot of ingredients)

4-5 Tbl. organic maple syrup

cinnamon and ginger powder to taste

(OPTIONAL) unsweetened coconut flakes

2 cookie sheets and parchment paper

TO DO:

Preheat oven to 300 F.

Melt the coconut oil under low flame. Mix in maple syrup when melted.

Place all dry ingredients in a large bowl.

This is how beautiful it looks...

Mix the dry ingredients with your clean hands.

Pour the melted coconut oil and maple syrup, stir with a wooden spoon till it's all evenly coated. Then add cinnamon and ginger powder to taste (maybe a tsp. each) so that they stick to the oil and syrup mixture.

Place parchment paper on two cookie trays. Pour granola mix evenly onto the trays. Flatten out so you end up with a thin layer of mixture.

Place in oven.

NOTE: I decided to add coconut flakes as last minute inspiration. Yum!

Place in oven for 10 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to stir the mixture. The edges tend to burn more than the rest, so make sure to mix it all in. (Be careful NOT to burn this! The granola should be light honey-brown when done. If it burns, it'll get ruined...)

Place in oven and additional 8-10 more minutes. The delish aroma and honey-color will let you know it's done.

Ta-da! Let it cool.

HOW TO GET IT INTO THE JAR?

This sounds so ridiculous, but the first few times, I made such a mess! And it took forever to scoop it into the jar, one ladle-ful at a time.

This is what you do:

Place a paper towel on the counter. Pour part of the granola unto it. Hold the paper towel by both ends, and create a funnel, so the granola easily glides right into the jar, like going down a slide!

And.... all done!

CONFESSION: The reason the big jar isn't full is because Joseph and I had a couple of bowls before I took the photo!

Enjoy being creative with your granola mixes! It's so much tastier and healthier than store-bought granola. It gives you a great feeling knowing you MADE this special treat. And you'll know how to make it even better the next time.

WE LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. PLEASE LET US KNOW BELOW: What is YOUR special healthy breakfast treat?

Any secrets to make your breakfast healthy and delicious?

Thanks for reading.

Sending BIG HUGS,

Eli

P.S. If you want to explore other healthy recipes, visit our other HEALTHY RECIPES BLOG POSTS HERE.