Crunchy Granola Recipe
This Crunchy Granola is nut-free, healthy, and simple. Perfect addition for breakfast, snack, and dessert. Keeps extremely well in an airtight container at room temp.
Servings: 20 servings (about 5 cups)
Ingredients
- 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 ⅓ cups roasted pumpkin seeds
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt, or kosher salt
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- ⅓ cup coconut oil, or extra virgin olive oil
- ¾ cups dried cranberries, see notes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300F, with rack on middle position. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the oats, pumpkin seeds, and salt - toss well.
- In a small saucepan over low heat, warm sugar, maple syrup, and oil until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat.
- Fold oat mixture into the syrup mixture until dry ingredients are well coated.
- Spread mixture over the parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until dry and lightly golden, 35-45 minutes, stirring mixture every 10-15 minutes during baking.
- Remove granola from oven and cool slightly before mixing in dried cranberries.
- Cool to room temp before storing in an airtight container.
Notes
- Stirring the mixture during baking ensures that it bakes evenly and doesn't burn.
- Note that coarse salt is much less salty by volume than fine table salt. See What Is Kosher salt?
- After removing the granola from the oven, allow it to cool slightly before mixing in the dried cranberries.
- Alternative add-ins: try dried blueberries, chocolate chips, salted/roasted almonds, pistachios, or toasted coconut.
- If you prefer your granola to be less sweet, you can reduce the amount of brown sugar and maple syrup. Just make sure to replace the lost liquid and sweetness with a little more oil and/or maple syrup to keep the granola from becoming too dry.
- If you like a sweeter granola, feel free to add more brown sugar to the mixture.
- We love this granola sprinkled over this refreshing Acaí Bowl Recipe or Healthy Yogurt Dip!
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 171kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.004g | Sodium: 139mg | Potassium: 128mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 1IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 1mg