Oh my gosh you guys, I think I might have fallen in love with granola. When Renee shared this granola recipe, I was practically drooling on my keyboard.
She reminded me of two very important things:
1) how much I love the flavors of cranberry and orange
2) how much I miss the convenience of a bowl of cereal.
When we cleaned out the kitchen of junk food early in our real food journey, cereal was on that list. Every box had a looooong list of ingredients and enormous amounts of sugar.
And those are the same two reasons why I haven’t bought a box of cereal since.
BUT NO ONE TOLD ME YOU COULD EAT GRANOLA AS CEREAL!
I say that in all caps, because if someone had told me this sooner, I’m sure I wouldn’t have given all those bags of granola on store shelves the stink eye, or maybe made a quadruple batch of this amazing granola.
Perhaps – just maybe – I would have been more open to granola if I had known that…
- you can eat granola hot or cold, with milk or without
- it’s a hearty, filling, real food meal that’s low in sugar
- it’s very inexpensive to make
- it’s a very hands-off recipe
- it can be a go-to recipe for using up random ingredients in the kitchen
You guys. WHY DIDN’T SOMEONE TELL ME SOONER?!?!
So here’s the deal. I’m making more granola. And I’m sharing the recipes. For two reasons.
(1) Because sometimes you just want of a bowl of cereal too.
I totally understand that sometimes you need a bowl of cereal (and that “you” sometimes means “the people you feed” because you can’t possibly muster the time/energy to make one.more.meal.).
But I have a question to ask you: Do you still buy boxes of cereal? Are you diligently reading labels?
Kudos to you if you’re reading the labels and turning down an easy breakfast. If you’re not there yet, no worries. Just know that there are better options, and homemade granola is one of them.
(2) Because every time my husband walked through the kitchen, he snagged some from the tray.
I’m totally not kidding here. I distinctly remember standing in the kitchen, cleaning up my mess and Mr. Crumbs walking by, grabbing handfuls of granola off the cookie sheet with each pass he took.
“I thought you didn’t like granola,” I asked him.
“I didn’t think I did either. Guess I was wrong,” he says as he pops another handful in his mouth.
Proof that even picky eaters can change their ways!
So let’s break the silence of the awesomeness of granola together, and celebrate with the flavor of the season – Cranberry Orange Granola.
What’s awesome about this particular recipe is that you can use fresh or dried cranberries (how to make your own dehydrated cranberries). My family actually preferred the fresh cranberries because of the tartness they gave when you bit into them with the chunks of granola.
Speaking of chunks, there’s a trick to making granola CLUSTERS versus just granola and I explained it in my first granola post.
That method still works in this recipe too, so feel free to adapt to make clusters. I promise you won’t regret it!
Also note that this recipe includes almonds and sunflower seeds – both vital staples in my frugal real food kitchen. Feel free to substitute with pecans, walnuts, cashews or any other seeds/nuts you have leftover from the holidays. That’s one of the beauties of granola – you can mix/match however you want!
Homemade Cranberry Orange Granola
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: approx 8 cups 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup coconut flakes
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/2 cup almonds chopped (measured after chopping)
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries OR 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 3 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 2 Tbsp orange zest (about one orange)
- 5 Tbsp orange juice (about one orange)
- 3 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg white (optional, for making clusters)
- 3 Tbsp flour (optional, for making clusters)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300F. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Combine wet ingredients in another bowl.
- Mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients until all dry ingredients are fully moist.
- Spread mixture onto 1-2 cookie sheets and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Flip carefully (if making clusters) or stir and continue to bake, checking every 10-15 minutes to ensure the granola doesn’t burn.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. The granola will crisp up as it cools.
- Store in a container with a lid.
Notes
Inspired by Raising Generation Nourished.
Cost Breakdown
- oats: $0.42
- coconut flakes: $0.57
- sunflower seeds: $0.33
- almonds: $0.83
- vanilla & cinnamon: $0.15
- maple syrup: $0.69
- coconut oil: $0.57
- orange: $0.50
- cranberries: $1.00
Total cost for making a batch of Cranberry Orange Granola is $5.06.
Is it just common knowledge that you’re supposed to de-shell the sunflower seeds? (Or buy them already de-shelled)?
I’ve never had them before and added them to the granola whole.
I was wondering why my granola was full of splinters, and it turns out I made a horrible mistake.
A few things I’ve learned as I’ve been making granola:
– My family loves it so much that it goes fast. Good thing it’s easy to make! : )
– I tend to burn mine, too, so I’ve gotten better at checking it and stirring/shifting it every 10 minutes. I was told to spread the granola more evenly in the center of the pan and let it pile up along the edges (like you would a pizza crust) because the outside edges get done quicker than the center. Then when I stir it at each 10 minute interval, I’m bringing the outside granola in and pushing the inside granola out. Does that make sense? Mine also takes about 20-30 minutes, so you only have to do the stirring once or twice.
– I was also instructed to leave out any of the nuts and seeds until after the baking because when you bake them at that temperature, you’ll wind up killing them. So as soon as I get the oats out and they’re still warm, then I mix in the raw nuts and seeds that I want (I use almonds, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds).
– I like using raw honey, but have never tried maple syrup (maybe I should!). Now I wonder though if baking it with honey negates the benefit of the honey being raw(?).
Sarah – if you’re using raw honey, negating the benefits depends on how hot the temperature is. Since I can’t measure that, I personally only use raw honey for non-baking purposes and regular honey for baking (regardless of the temperature). Thanks for the tip on the outer pile! And if you’re using raw nuts/seeds, then it would be best to add them at the end. Cheers to easy granola!!
I finally got around to making this today. The flavor is good but didnt turn out clumpy and golden like yours! I did use shredded coconut and almond slices because that’s what I had on have with the additional ingredients. I also used the clump trick 😊 It’s like it wasn’t wet enough maybe? Oh well, we will still eat it! Yum
This recipe inspired me!
i used all of my cranberries in my orange-cranberry sauce, but i had tons of cranberry sauce left over from TG day. so i used tablespoon for tablespoon of cranberry sauce to replace the liquid ingredients (because thats what i had on hand- true don’t waste the crumbs fashion!) and i used walnut pieces instead of almonds (also bc thats what i had) and its in the oven now. i idnt use any other sweetener bc the cranberry sauce was already sweet. i cant wait until it is finished and cooled!! ive been wanting a cereal lately, and this looks perfect! thank you!
Great thinking Elizabeth! I’m curious how this turns out – please let us know!
Have you tried replacing the egg white and flour with applesauce? Provided you don’t burn it, it makes those great clumps and adds sweetness. I almost always burn it around the edges though.
I haven’t Shellei, and I didn’t know you could do that! I’m honestly not great at NOT burning granola, so I might have to skip though. I appreciate you sharing this!
I learned a little trick to turn oatmeal into a healthy, homemade breakfast cereal which I think is similar to granola and you can get the little clusters without using the egg.
First I double the Nourishing Traditions recipe for soaked oatmeal and then just after cooking, when it’s still warm, I add about 4 tablespoons of butter (for healthy fat!) and then a bit of sweetener like honey, maple syrup, or sucanat. I then spread it out on a cookie sheet and dehydrate in my oven on the lowest setting. Once it’s dried it can easily be broken into tiny clusters.
I love this recipe because you can easily substitute different fats and sweeteners. I have not yet added anything to the basic recipe but will be trying it again and adding some other nuts and seeds with maybe coconut and perhaps fruit too.
Thanks for sharing this, Adriane! I’ve heard that some people have a hard time digesting uncooked oats and I’ve been suspicious that this is true for my (3 year old) son, so I’m very interested in trying this method in hopes that it will be easier for him to digest since it’s pre-soaked.
How long can I safely store this? Also, can I store this in pantry? Or fridge? I’m thinking of making some for my kids. Thanks.
I stored this in the pantry Anjuli 🙂
Oh, good. I was wondering if I could do that with the fresh cranberries. I like this recipe because it is low on sugar but still sweet. Thanks!
I have made my own granola for a few years now, and I have recently modified it to make it completely RAW.
It takes several DAYS in my food dehydrator, set at 105 (the highest temp it can be and still be considered – for nutrition purposes – raw).
I make a HUGE batch – it fills all the trays of my dehydrator.. but the end product is crispy and crunchy and delish! Not to mention the outstanding benefits of eating a truly raw snack/cereal/parfait topping, etc.
I don’t do anything different, prep-wise. Just mix up my normal recipe and load in the dehydrator. I check it every day or two, until I can tell that the moisture is gone.
It. Is. Amazing. 🙂
Care to share your recipe, Barbara?