I am particular about my granola. It can’t be too sweet. And it must always and forever be crunchy. Like Nature Valley crunchy, not chewy. And I don’t like loose granola, it has to be snackable in clusters. Am I picky enough about my granola?!
I’ve been tweaking this recipe for the LONGEST time, and most times just throw it out because after recipe developing, one (or all!) of the above criteria has not been met. Until now.
Using a combination of unsweetened apple sauce, honey and brown sugar turned out to be the right combination of sweeteners to make the granola just sweet enough, but stay clumped together in clusters, and it’s crunchy!
Low Calorie Granola
2 cups uncooked quick oats
3 cups puffed rice cereal
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 tablespoons honey
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 ounce slivered almonds
1 ounce dried cranberries
2 teaspoons McCormick cinnamon sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon salt
Heat oven to 350. Mix oats and rice cereal together and bake for 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes so the rice cereal doesn’t burn.
Mix applesauce, brown sugar, honey, ground cinnamon and ginger and cook to a boil.
While this recipe takes some planning, no reason you couldn’t whip this up while you are making dinner on a weeknight to enjoy granola later all week long.
The following recipe may not be as healthy, but it’s also great on yogurt/fruit parfait, and adds a nice crunch to ice cream. Think fresh peaches with a dollop of vanilla bean ice cream, topped with the nice crunch of granola!
Easy Granola
Yield: 6 cups
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time: 1.5 hours
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup pecans
1 cup shredded sweet coconut
1/2 cup brown sugar, loose pack
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins, dried cranberries or dried cherries (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
2. In large bowl combine oats, nuts, coconut, and brown sugar. Be sure to break up any nuggets of brown sugar.
3. In a separate smaller bowl, combine syrup, oil, and salt. Then pour into the dry mix and stir until all the ingredients are moist.
4. Divide the mixture onto two half sheet pans. If you want the granola to be “sprinkly” then use a spatula to stir it around the pan every 15 minutes. If you want it to be more chunky, then just leave it alone. I like to rotate my pans every 15 minutes for even browning, especially if you’re stirring them.
5. Bake for 1 hour, 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool down on the pans before transferring to storage containers. If you’re going to add dried fruits, then remove from the oven and transfer to a large mixing bowl, add the fruit and stir. Let cool before transferring to storage container and store in the fridge.
Granola three ways: Yogurt parfait, crunchy clusters, and gifting granola
There are lots of granola variations available from The Chopping Block, including this Honey Nut version and here’s one using matzo.
