How To Make Healthy Granola
Homemade, healthy granola is super easy to make and gives you control over the amount of sugar and quality of ingredients.
Granola is generally perceived as a healthy food but some brands can hide spoonfuls of sugar and fat amid the more wholesome nuts and oats. But it doesn’t have to be that way, if you make your own you have total control and you can play around with different flavours. In the summer I like adding dried strawberries and mangos and in the winter I prefer dried cranberries and figs. Feel free to get creative and adjust it to your own likings. In Autumn there is nothing better than adding it to my Fig Chia Pudding Recipe, it’s utterly delicious.
In this granola recipe, I’m not using any refined sugars, only a bit of maple syrup and molasses. There is nothing better than the smell of roasted nuts and cinnamon filling your kitchen, simply delicious. Sprinkle your healthy granola on top of some Homemade Coconut Yoghurt or Almond Butter Porridge With Roasted Bananas and you are good to go.
Benefits of Blackstrap Molasses
Blackstrap molasses contains the vitamins and minerals that it absorbs from the sugar cane plant. Molasses has a moderate glycemic load of 55, which makes it a better choice than refined sugar, especially for people with diabetes.
It contains high levels of
- Vitamin B6
- manganese
- magnesium
- potassium
- iron and selenium.
- and selenium.
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The Coconut Oil Controversy
Personally, I recommend using coconut oil for this recipe because besides having a high smoke point it has a lot of other benefits.
Unlike long-chain fatty acids found in plant-based oils, the medium chain fatty acids found in coconut oil are:
- Easier to digest
- Not readily stored as fat
- Are anti-microbial and anti-fungal
- Smaller in size, allowing easier cell permeability for immediate energy
- Processed by the liver, which means that they are immediately converted to energy instead of being stored as fat
If you are confused about coconut oil being healthy or not because of the recent announcement by the American Heart Association, I recommend checking out the article “For Fat’s Sake, don’t follow those guidelines” by the Alliance for Natural Health.
Your turn
How do you like to eat your granola? I’m looking forward to reading your comments.
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How To Make The Best Healthy Granola
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats gluten-free if required
- 1/4 cup millet or quinoa, uncooked
- 1/4 cup ground flaxseeds
- 3/4 cup raw nuts I used a mix of almonds, pecans, and hazelnuts
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 cup coconut oil melted
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Mix-ins:
- 1/4 cup raisins dried cranberries, or diced dried figs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F/150 °C.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, millet, flaxseed, nuts, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
- Drizzle the coconut oil, maple syrup, molasses, and vanilla over the mixture and stir until well combined.
- Spread the granola evenly on the lined baking sheet and press it down with your fingers or a spatula.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, mix in the dried fruits, press it back into an even layer and bake for additional 5-10 minutes.
- Take the granola out of the oven and let cool completely before storing it in an airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition
