Vanilla Pecan Granola | Make it at Home

Granola is one of those foods that people automatically equate with healthy eating. BUT the problem is a lot of the commercial granola on the market is loaded with refined sugar to get you hooked. There are healthy versions, just pay attention to those ingredient lists and nutrition facts.

Or make it at home. It is much easier than you think. And once you get the hang of it you can get creative. Make yourself “the perfect for YOU” custom granola.

The base of most granola is pretty consistent across recipes. You will need:

• 2-3 cups Oats (the old fashioned kind, not the quick cooking variety)
• 1/2 cup Oil (I like extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, or avocado oil)
• 1/2 cup Sweetener (maple syrup, honey or date paste are my go-tos)

And then customize with your favorite mix-ins:

• Nuts (pecans, almonds, walnuts..)
• Seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, hemp, flax, chia…)
• Shredded Coconut (if you like)

Season with salt and any other spices you fancy. As you will see in the recipe below my favorite granola flavors to add are vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg: a winning combo. All of the aforementioned ingredients get mixed together in a big bowl and then dumped onto a parchment lined baking sheet to bake. (lower and slower yields the best results)

If you like dried fruit, it is best to mix in after you bake and cool. Be careful with the quantity of dried fruit as this can quickly bring up your total added sugar content. Check out my recipe below for an on the fly batch, I recently made.

Dry Ingredients

• • 2 cups oats
  • 1 cup shaved coconut
  • 1 cup walnuts
  • 1 cup pecans
  • 1 cup pumpkin seeds
  • 1/4 cup hemp seeds
  • 1/4 cup chia seeds
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon 
  • 1/2 tablespoon nutmeg
  • 2 teaspoons coarse salt

Wet Ingredients

• • 1/2 cup avocado oil
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 2 capfuls vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Coarse chop nuts and mix dry ingredients.
3. Add vanilla, oil and syrup to dry ingredients mixing between each wet addition until combined.
4. Spread on parchment lined baking sheet.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Turn oats half way through and then periodically check in every 5 minutes or so until you see some browning around the edges or the empty spots.

Notes

Allow to cool a little before serving. Fresh from the oven it will not have the crunch you might be accustomed to, but don’t worry. It will crunch up once fully cooled. The first serving from this batch, was devoured fresh out the oven on top of some homemade applesauce hot off the stove. It was the perfect afternoon snack for fall. Delish!

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