Granola
First time making granola. I just used what I had on hand.
- 2 cups of oats; toasted in pan
- 1/2 cup of chopped almonds, pecans and cashews each; toasted in pan
- 1/2 chopped raisins
- ~1/4 cup honey; start with 2 tablespoons
- ~1/2 teaspoon sea salt; start with 1/4 teaspoon
I did taste the mix and it was just slightly too sweet and a little too salty. Not enough to really be a problem for me but you may want to start with a little less and adjust to your liking.
I mixed all the ingredients and spread onto a tray with parchment paper. I just winged the oven temperature and bake length. I did 300f for 20 minutes. I'm letting them cool down but will cutting and tasting them soon.
Enjoy!
Edit: It wasn't really too sweet or too salty. I think some of the powdery oats and nuts may have toasted a little too good. It has a slight bitterness from that. But it still tastes good.
I want to get more dried fruit and different seeds to add next time. There's also a version in saw made with dates cooked into a paste which looks really good too.
7 replies
I’d so want to make granola, just without the sugar. I guess it’s technically not granola without any, but still.
This one doesn't have any added sugar besides the sugar naturally in the honey. You could also use maple syrup instead of honey. I believe it has one of the lowest glycemic index's.
There's also the version I meantioned with using date paste as a binder while increasing sweetness and fiber. Dark chocolate could also be used to improve sweetness, something like 60%+ cocoa.
What I’d like is make one without even honey or maple suryp. Haven’t gotten there yet is all.
Peanut butter or something else might work as a binder but I don’t know of anything outside of natural sugars that works well. Maybe some wheat germ and egg? Kinda like egg and breadcrumbs in a meatloaf. Let us know if find something that works.
Looks great! I started making granola last year. Some add ins that work well: cinnamon, maple syrup, vanilla extract, peanut butter, seeds(chia, flax, pumpkin), quinoa and other grains.
I like mixing the sugars with a little water and oil to make it easier to stir into the mixture. I’ve never loved fruit in my granola so I don’t add that or know how it affects the rest of it.
Thanks! I do plan on using the ingredients you mentioned. I'll be adding water to the dates in order to make them into a paste to use as a binder.
I think if you have something to bind everything together(I used honey this time), the dried fruit shouldn't really cause any problems.
So far, honey is the best binder that I’ve found, but it has its limits. Most of the common sugar binders don’t hold well when using a lot of seeds or quinoa. Most store bought granola uses brown rice syrup. I haven’t tried that yet, it’s not common on store shelves but you can easily get it online.