If you are looking for a healthy granola recipe, then you’ll be pleased to know that this one is both delicious and very easy to make.
This is the same basic granola recipe that I have been making for the last 15 years. It’s the best.
A very popular healthy homemade granola recipe
For many years, this granola has been exceedingly popular when I serve it to guests on retreats at breakfast time. I serve it along with homemade cashew milk, yoghurt and fruit salad.
What makes a granola recipe healthy?
Not all granolas are created equally.
The shop bought stuff can vary hugely, with varying degrees of refined sugars and oil.
Using a healthy syrup sweetener
The aim of the syrup is to help coat and bind the granola ingredients, whilst giving it a hint of sweet taste.
One of the keys to making your granola recipe healthy is to use a small amount of a healthy syrup sweetener. Examples of healthier sweeteners are maple syrup, date syrup, molasses, rice syrup, apple juice concentrate, or coconut blossom nectar/syrup. Some people also use honey.
You definitely don’t need to overdo your granola with syrup. It helps to have ‘just enough’ sweetness.
You will also have sweetness from the raisins.
Using minimal oil
It’s tempting to lather your granola in lots of oil when you are making it. This isn’t necessary.
Less is more in the case of oil.
To keep your recipe healthy, use ‘just enough’ oil to coat the other ingredients. Mix with your hands and finger tips to make sure everything gets coated nicely. This light coating of oil helps the toasting process when your granola bakes in the oven.
What ingredients are in this healthy granola recipe?
A healthy granola recipe, like the one I am sharing today, is designed to have a full complement of nutrition.
Oats
Oats are rich in dietary fibre and other nutrients. They contain a type of dietary fibre called beta-glucan which, according to studies, has been shown to lower cholesterol levels. Oats contain avenanthramides which are powerful antioxidants. High in protein and shown to contain some important minerals such as manganese, phosphorus, copper, iron and zinc, oats are one of those surprising awesome foods for health.
Pumpkin seeds
Pumpkin seeds have an especially diverse range of antioxidants, rarely found in other foods. They are also packed with healthy essential fats necessary for human health. In addition to that, pumpkin seeds have excellent levels of minerals such as manganese, copper, magnesium, zinc and iron.
Sunflower seeds
Sunflower seeds are excellent for vitamin E which is a powerful antioxidant. As well as B vitamins, sunflower seeds also contain impressive levels of manganese, selenium, copper and magnesium. All of these are essential for us humans to stay healthy.
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is a superstar spice with a multitude of health benefits. Not only does it bring a wonderful warming flavour to any healthy granola recipe but research also suggests that cinnamon is a good antimicrobial, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory spice. Cinnamon has also been shown to be good against cardiovascular disease, and neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s.
Which type of oats are best for homemade granola?
As a rule of thumb, for homemade granola, you are best to use the finer oats that have been steamed (as in rolled oats) or ground down enough (as in Scottish oats) so that they are softer, less chewy on cooking, and bake better.
Use Scottish oats, quick oats or rolled oats for making granola.
Let’s quickly look at the different types of oats available…
Rolled oats for granola making
Rolled oats have been steamed and pressed which means they cook fairly quickly. This method increases their shelf, and they seem to be the most common form of oats available to buy.
Rolled oats come in the following three forms…
- Jumbo oats, regular rolled oats, and old-fashioned oats (all the same thing)
Old-fashioned oats and jumbo oats are the same thing. They are quite chunky. Having been steamed means that you get neatly shaped pressed oats during the rolling process. I’ve seen them used in healthy granola recipes. Their chunkier nature, however, does make them a little harder to digest and break down when you eat them. For that reason, I prefer to use oats that have been broken down a little more, as in quick oats. - Quick oats
Quick oats are rolled thinner than regular rolled oats. Yet they still have some form to them. They are, however, softer, and less chewy than traditional rolled oats. As the name suggests, quick oats cook quickly. - Instant oats
Instant oats are steamed for longer than regular rolled oats. They are processed to a finer consistency than the other type of oats. This means they will cook instantly.
Scottish oats are good for making granola
Scottish oats are excellent for making granola. It is what I mainly use.
Scottish oats are not steamed or pressed.
To create Scottish oats, the whole oat groats have been de-husked and are then ground down rustically. This means that you benefit from a fast cooking time. They are also fairly soft which means that they are ideal for healthy granola recipes.
Scottish oats bought in a packet often look like very coarse flour. They are partly powdery and partly thin, flat pieces of chopped oats. If you use them in porridge they cook in less than 10 minutes and produce creamy oatmeal.
“Scottish oats (the ones I use for my healthy granola recipe)”
Steel cut oats are not good for granola making
Steel cut oats are too tough for use in your granola recipe. They are also sometimes called Irish oats.
Do not use steel cut or Irish oats for making granola.
They are cut coarsely with steel blades. These types of oats have not been steamed and are much chewier on cooking. Steel cut oats are best saved for slow cooked porridge making.
Healthy granola recipe with seeds
A healthy granola recipe to make at home. Using maple syrup to sweeten. Sunflower, pumkin seeds, oats and coconut.
Ingredients
- 500g (3¼ cups) Scottish oats (or quick oats)
- 150g (1 cup) mixed sunflower and pumpkin seeds
- 50g (½ cup) desiccated coconut (or shredded coconut)
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 50ml (just over 3 tablespoons) olive oil
- 50ml (just over 3 tablespoons) maple syrup (or alternative)
- 85g (¾ cup) raisins
Instructions
- Put the oats, seeds, cococonut and cinnamon into a baking tin and mix together briefly.
- Add the olive oil, maple syrup and almond extract.
- Mix everything together with your hands, being sure that everything is evenly mixed.
- Put into a pre-heated oven at 180C/350C (fan oven) or gas mark 4.
- Bake for about 30 minutes, taking care to mix in with a spoon two or three times during the baking process.
- Once the granola is gently toasted it is ready.
- Take the granola out of the oven, mix in the raisins and let it cool down before serving.
- Once cooled, the granola will keep in an airtight container for a few weeks.
A delicious banana oat porridge recipe to make here…
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