Have you ever wanted to make your own healthy, homemade granola? Here’s a recipe that you’ll go absolutely nuts over!(hehe) It sprung forth from a labor of love this past Christmas as I set out to make the perfect healthy granola recipe for holiday gifts for my family. After hours of messing with different combinations of ingredients, ratios, and cook times, I finally found a winner! Feel free to improvise with the ingredients to suit your own unique tastes and be sure to check out the secret ingredient that will give it a heavenly chunk-tastic texture (if that’s your style).

Why You’ll Love Homemade Granola

• You only need a hand full of ingredients to make it great
• It’s super easy to improvise and customize to your taste
• It makes your home smell ah-mazing
• It’s versatile – you can eat it alone, with cold or warm milk, or sprinkle it on top of yogurt.
• It’s not all jacked up on added sweeteners, extra oils, and additives that you’ll get with the store-bought kind.

You’ll also get all the benefits of the almonds, which are packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber and protein (did you know that just a handful of almonds will give you an 1/8 of your recommended daily protein?).

If you add in the pumpkin seeds you’ll also get a nice dose of magnesium, zinc (which is great for immunity, sleep mood, and insulin regulation), and omega-3’s (which are essential for a healthy diet).

The sunflower seeds will serve you up a nice dose of vitamin E, which helps boost immunity. I mean, come on. You are eating the little gems that bring us sunflowers, you know that’s some good energy!

You may have also heard that oats are heart healthy – why you might ask? This amazing cereal grain contains a specific type of fiber known as beta-glucan, which as been shown to lower cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of high blood pressure and heart attack.

And for the secret ingredient…

By adding the egg whites you are getting an added dose of protein, but even more fantastically, they pull the oats and nuts into perfect clumps and chunks.  (Hint: I like making the granola using the egg white method at night because you can just pop it in the oven for 10 minutes, turn it off and just leave it be overnight. In the morning you’ll have chunks like you’ve only dreamed of!)

5.0 from 2 reviews

Healthy Homemade Granola

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Author: Krissy Ruddy

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

• 4 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup almonds
• 1½ cups flaked coconut
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 4 Tbsp coconut oil
• ⅓ cup honey or maple syrup
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• sprinkle of cinnamon
• Optional Additions:
• ¼ cups sunflower seeds
• ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
• ¼ cup sesame seeds
• ½ cup cashews
• ½ cup pecans
• 1 cup raisins

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325º.
2. Place the oats, almonds, coconut, sea salt, cinnamon and the optional ingredients (if you choose to) into a large mixing bowl.
3. Gently mix together with your hands.
4. Heat the coconut oil and honey (or maple syrup) in a small pan over low-to-medium heat.
5. Whisk in the vanilla extract.
6. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix to evenly coat.
7. Spread on a baking sheet (or 2) lined with parchment paper and cook for 10 minutes at 325º.
8. Flip the granola and bake another 5-10 minutes, or until golden brown.
9. For extra chunky granola whisk 2 egg whites in a small bowl until frothy and mix into the granola before spreading it out on the baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes at 375º and then turn off the oven and let it sit for 6-8 hours (without flipping the granola).

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