Favorite Granola

MEAL TYPE: Breakfast, Snack

DIETARY RESTRICTION: Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

Favorite Granola

Your whole family will love this delicious granola recipe! It's a much healthier option than store-bought granola. Enjoy it with almond milk, coconut milk, or full fat greek yogurt in the morning, and alone as a grab-and-go snack later in the day.

Thanks to Functional Nutritionist Andrea Nakayama, from Replenish PDX, who contributed this recipe to barre3.

INGREDIENTS

3-4 cups rolled oats, gluten free

1/2 cup sunflower seeds, raw

1/2 cup nuts, chopped walnuts or pecans work great

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/2 cup organic virgin coconut oil, gently melted

1 Tbs. carob powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup coconut sugar, brown rice syrup or scant 1/2 cup raw honey

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut, shredded

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup dates, chopped

1/2 cup dried unsweetened cranberries

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INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a large bowl, mix together the oats, sunflower seeds, nuts, and sesame seeds.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, carob powder, cinnamon, sweetener, and salt. Add this mixture to the large bowl, and combine well.
In a lasagna pan or on two flat cookie sheets, spread the mixture evenly and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the top layer is browned. Then, flip/mix with a spatula and place back in oven for another 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven. The mixture will be moist, but will dry and harden as it cools. Mix in dried fruit ingredients and let cool, stirring every so often to prevent clumping. Store in an airtight container.
(Alternately, you can place all initial ingredients in a slow cooker or crock pot on low overnight and add the fruit in the morning. This is one of my favorite time savers!)
* Carob powder adds a lovely sweet and malty flavor to this recipe. If you can’t find it, no worries! Just omit it.

24 people have left a comment. Join the conversation!

libby.appelbee SAID:

09/17/2015 |Reply

I’ve made a lot go granolas and this is the best I’ve tasted. Thank you!
Elizabeth SAID:

09/05/2015 |Reply

It took forever to find unsweetened dried cranberries. Had to order them online. I finally got to make this today and it is fantastic!!!
Elizabeth SAID:

08/17/2015 |Reply

I have a question about the coconut. It doesn’t say unsweetened, but should it be?

onlinesupport REPLIED:

08/18/2015 |Reply

Hi Elizabeth, thanks for catching this. You will want to use coconut that is unsweetened. The dates and coconut sugar (or honey) give it just the right touch of sweetness – you will see why this is our favorite!

Tiffany SAID:

08/12/2015 |Reply

This granola is soooooo good!! My whole family loves it!
goddardse SAID:

06/01/2015 |Reply

Is the half cup honey in addition to the half cup coconut sugar?

onlinesupport REPLIED:

06/11/2015 |Reply

You can use honey or sugar! Whichever sweetener you prefer, just 1/2 cup total.

kajacobsen SAID:

04/01/2015 |Reply

Just checking to be sure – do you add the shredded coconut when you add in the dried fruit? Thanks!

onlinesupport REPLIED:

04/07/2015 |Reply

Great question! Yes, you add the coconut when you add the dried fruit. Enjoy!

Esgraham44 SAID:

02/09/2015 |Reply

My oven must run hotter than 350 degrees, the granola came out a little browner than I expected & is slightly burned. It’s not a failure but it’s not as good as it could be. I printed out the recipe & wrote a note to myself to leave it in the oven for a shorter period of time. Once I got the raisins,etc into it, it wasn’t too bad.
Esgraham44 SAID:

02/09/2015 |Reply

I have this in the oven baking right now, it smells soooo good!
broussardcyndi SAID:

12/11/2014 |Reply

I am looking forward to making this granola. I was wondering – do most people eat it with milk — or yogurt? Thanks, Cyndi

onlinesupport REPLIED:

12/11/2014 |Reply

People snack on it plain or add it to almond milk or yogurt. Great question- enjoy!

onlinesupport SAID:

10/09/2014 |Reply

A serving is 1 cup.
brad_brit SAID:

08/06/2014 |Reply

I just made this granola and it is SUPER yummy!! I am just having a hard time with the extremely high fat content and calorie amount:/! I just started the 28 to great program and can’t get past that. I know if your eating healthful food, whole foods it shouldn’t matter, but I’m a calorie counter and a fat watcher and am just wondering your philosophy behind the high fat diet? Can you refer me to a website or information regarding this? Thank you so much!!!:)

onlinesupport REPLIED:

08/12/2014 |Reply

Great question, Brittany! We learned from naturopath and barre3 instructor Dr. Jen Curtiss that healthy fats such as those we get from vegetables (nuts, seeds, coconut, olive oil) are essential to the body. They make the membrane of every cell in our body, cholesterol is a hormone precursor, we need fat to absorb fat-soluble vitamins, and calories from fat help to satiate the appetite and stabilize our blood sugar. For example, a handful of nuts may stabilize your blood sugar for 2-3 hours, where as a hand-full of low calorie crackers may result in a blood sugar crash and sensation of hunger in 30-60 minutes.

Mary Enig is the world expert on fats, she has several books and research articles about the biochemistry of fats.

One important key to remember is that low fat = high sugar = blood sugar spikes = fat storage. In general you will find that our recipes limit sugar and carbohydrate content and instead contain nutrition dense foods. I hope this helps!

margokless SAID:

05/27/2014 |Reply

I would not recommend the slow cooker method, at least not for eight hours overnight. I put all of the initial ingredients in the slow cooker overnight and it was dry and hardened in the morning, which made it a) difficult to remove from the pot and b) difficult to mix in the fruit and coconut.
jessicaleighengel SAID:

03/22/2014 |Reply

What is the calorie count on a cup of this yummy granola?

onlinesupport REPLIED:

03/25/2014 |Reply

Hi Jessica! We do not count calories, but prefer to practice listening to our bodies to eat when hungry and to stop eating when satiated. Take a look at the barre3 Portion Rx to help you balance your plate with healthy fats, fiber, and protein. That being said, if you want to find out the number of calories, you may plug the recipe into the custom calorie entry tool at http://www.nutritiondata.self.com/tools/caloric-ratio-search

lauraelmore1033 SAID:

03/19/2014 |Reply

This was deeply satisfying. I love granola, but haven’t had it for years because all that sugar and fat looked like a seriously bad thing to eat, and I was actually afraid to try this recipe–well, all these recipes have taken a leap of faith to try because they seem too good to be true–but I’ve lost 12 pounds now (day 26 on the 28 day challenge) and I can see this is truly the way people should eat!
cjmartin70 SAID:

03/05/2014 |Reply

Excellent. I made with canola oil, brown sugar and no coconut (since I don’t like the coconut flavor) and doubled the cinnamon. I can’t wait to try again.
kbarger239 SAID:

01/26/2014 |Reply

I’ve made MANY granola recipes, and this one is the BEST! Thanks so much!
jennas1118 SAID:

10/27/2013 |Reply

Although the crockpot idea was great, it left the granola mushy rather than crunchy tasting. Plus, because it was there overnight, the bottom part was burnt. It could be that my crockpot is too hot (it was on low setting though) but I think the oven is definitely the way to go next time. Yikes!

onlinesupport REPLIED:

10/29/2013 |Reply

Hi Jenna! Baking granola in the oven is a great way to get crispy granola. If you are cooking the granola in the crock pot, be sure to stir it every few hours to distribute the cooking process.

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