Homemade Granola

By Jessica Campbell, MS, FNTP

I love granola in the morning, but eating the store-bought, sugar-laden carbs puts me into a sugar high that ends in a 4 o'clock coma. I know what you're thinking... 

..but I thought granola was health food?

This is the problem with the American food system, most of the foods that originally were healthy, have been processed into junk food. But we can make granola from scratch, and have a delicious treat the whole week.

I do think granola is a treat. It's not what I start with, it's more like the topping on my fruit and yogurt parfait, or the crunchy addition to my oatmeal. When I really want to be decadent, it is the perfect naughty pleasure on my homemade ice cream.

As most of my recipes go, this is not a magically measured formula. You can play with it and find your favorite mixture. Just remember to save the fruits until after you've cooked it, or you'll have little bits of sticky rocks in your granola.

Homemade Granola

  • About 4 cups of rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 2 cups any mixture of nuts chopped or sliced
  • 1/2 cup any seed, pumpkin, sunflower, hemp...
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil or melted coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup raw honey or maple syrup
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp cardamom, ginger, or clove
  • 1 cup dried fruit (to add after it's cooked)
  1. Add all ingredients except dried fruit to a bowl and mix well
  2. Heat an oven to 350º and spread the mixture on a baking sheet
  3. Cook for 20 minutes, don't let it burn it, but check it once, stir and watch closely
  4. Let cool on the counter and add in the chopped dried fruit

If you have trouble digesting grains, you may want to add 1 cup of cultured yogurt, such as Nancy's Probiotic Greek Yogurt to the oats, and soak them overnight. Then proceed with the granola recipe. This may add another 10 min to your cooking time but watch for burning.

Let me know what combinations you like. I think I added dried apricots, cranberries, and pecans to this particular batch and it was delicious!

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