This simple maple granola recipe is sugar-free and naturally sweetened with maple syrup. It tastes so much better than store-bought granola and yet it doesn’t contain any added refined sugar. It is amazingly delicious and very simple. The pumpkin and sunflower seeds add an amazing nutty flavour and the coconut oil makes everything taste even better!
I also made a short step-by-step video about how to make this simple granola recipe:
I believe coconut oil is the best oil to use when cooking granola. Not just because it has a ton of health benefits but because of the pleasant light coconut aroma it adds to the oats. You can read more about coconut oil and other healthy cooking oils in the COOKING OILS guide.
The key to a great homemade granola is good quality simple rolled oats. There are definitely some bad oats out there that can ruin your granola. These are the best oats you can find, they are one of my regular online orders Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Rolled Oats.
You can make your granola with pretty much any nuts you like. I love adding sunflower and pumpkin seeds, their nutty flavour is truly amazing especially after the granola has been cooked. I also add almond flakes which are another great granola ingredient as they are so crunchy and wholesome!
You can use cranberries or any other dried fruits, in this case I have added dried raisins which are most popular for granola. They also have a relatively lower cost compared to other dried fruits. When you are buying dried fruits always try to buy unsweetened. It will be difficult to find any as most of them have added sugar but there are some options online.
One thing to note is that it’s probably best to add the dried fruits to the mix after the granola has been cooked. The problem is that sometimes once the dried fruits are baked, they get too dry and can even become a bit hard and lose their softness. This doesn’t always happen but to be sure I always add them after, they don’t require any baking any way as only the nuts and oats need to be cooked to bring out their flavour and crunchiness.
Breakfast is served! Enjoy x
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup (90 g) raisins or other dried fruits
- 1 cup mix of sunflower and pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 cup almond flakes
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil (about 3 large tbsp)
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 175 ºC (350 ºF).
- In a large mixing bowl add all of the dry ingredients (except the dried fruits).
- Combine the maple syrup with the coconut oil and pour the liquid gradually in the mixing bowl to the rest of the ingredients. Stir while adding it until your granola mix is well coated in oil and syrup.
- Spread the granola into an even layer on 1 large (or 2 smaller) baking sheets.
- Bake for about 30 minutes or until the granola turns golden. Stir occasionally while baking.
- Adding the raisins: you can add the raisins to the mix after the granola has been baked or 10 minutes before it's done cooking. This is to avoid burning the fruits as they can't be under high temperature for that long.
