Tag: vegan granola

I thought I had it down. A great granola recipe. And then I tweaked it just slightly. Now it really is the ultimate because my husband said, “This is the best granola you have ever made!”

What makes this great is that it is oil free and super crunchy. And the almond meal kind of coats the nuts and seeds and add a little extra crunchy texture. I’m telling you, ultimate.

Note: if you don’t have raw vanilla powder, add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract to the sticky sauce.

Sticky Sauce 
1/4 cup maple sugar (or date sugar)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup brown rice syrup (or coconut nectar, yacon syrup, agave nectar)

Oats, Nuts & Other Ingredients 
2 1/2 cups of rolled oats
3/4 cup mixed nuts (pecans, walnuts, cashews, almonds, macadamia nuts, pine nuts)
1/2 cup almond meal (I like Bob’s Red Mill Almond Meal/Flour)
1/4 cup mixed seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, hemp, chia)
1/4 cup coconut (shredded, flakes or chips)
2 teaspoons raw vanilla powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 325. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk together the sticky sauce. Add the oats, nuts and other ingredients to the sticky sauce and combine well.  .

Turn out onto a baking sheet and kind of pack it all together but flatten it out. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until nice and golden.

Break it up and store in an airtight container. Enjoy with dried fruit and plant milk!

We have a friend who works at Eleven Madison Park. The other day the recipe for their granola appeared in the NYTimes. Guests are presented with a small gift at the end of their meal: a jar of granola (which is vegan!) for the next morning’s breakfast. I decided to make some, give it to my friend and see how I stack up to the professional kitchen. In fact, it gave me the idea to make lots of granola and give it to everyone at our annual family Christmas Eve dinner. Just like at the restaurant, everyone will have breakfast for Christmas morning!

Of course, I did make some changes to the recipe…I couldn’t help myself! I used coconut palm sugar instead of brown sugar (because granola is for breakfast so here’s why) and sunflower oil instead of olive oil. I also added way more sour cherries than the recipe suggests and I significantly cut down on the salt. The recipe calls for a tablespoon…that should be illegal!

I really like the part of the recipe where the sugar is dissolved into the maple syrup and oil before mixing with the oats and nuts. I think I am going to start doing that when I make my weekly batches of Ultimate Granola.

2 3/4 cups rolled oats
1 cup shelled pistachios (pistachio meat)
1 cup unsweetened coconut chips
1/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup sunflower oil
1 overflowing cup of dried sour cherries

Preheat the oven to 300. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix together the oats, pistachios, coconut chips, pumpkin seeds and salt.

In a small saucepan, warm the sugar, maple syrup and oil until the sugar is just dissolved. Remove from the heat and fold into the oats. Mix well to coat everything.

Spread the granola onto the baking sheet and press it down in an even layer. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until dry and lightly golden.

Remove from the oven and mix the cherries into the granola. Cool completely and then transfer to a decorative glass jar or storage container. Enjoy!

I have posted a lot of granola recipes on this blog because I love making different variations! We just returned from visiting our niece in Maine. We stayed at the Morning Glory Inn in York where we had a delightful vegan breakfast that included fantastic granola. Margie, one half of the duo who own the B & B, makes fresh batches almost daily! I loved it for two reasons (1) pine nuts. I never thought of that! and (2) Margie doesn’t cook the dried fruit. She adds it after. Never thought of that either!

So of course, I asked for the recipe. Turns out it is posted on the website here and I am reposting my slightly adapted version here.

Sticky Sauce
3 tablespoons maple syrup
3 tablespoons vegan sugar
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients
2 1/2 cups of rolled oats
1 cup mixed nuts: pecans, walnuts and pine nuts
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup of shredded coconut

Dried Fruit
1/4 cup of golden raisins
1/4 cup Thompson raisins
1/4 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a big bowl, whisk the stick sauce ingredients together until combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix well until the wet ingredients are completely incorporated with the dry ingredients.

Turn out onto the lined baking sheet and pat down so that it is as compact as possible.

Bake on the middle rack in your oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Fill a large bowl with the raisins and cranberries. Break up the granola and toss everything together.

Store in an airtight container and serve with delicious homemade vegan milk. Enjoy!