Homemade Healthy Granola

It’s been a few weeks since I shared a recipe and thought it was time to give you guys a new healthy and tasty recipe to try. Granola is a great option for breakfast or a healthy snack. The only problem is most granola you buy at the grocery store has A LOT of ADDED SUGAR!! That kind of defeats the point of a healthy breakfast. So, with this homemade recipe you can cut down on the total sugar while still enjoying whole grains and healthy fats.

In this recipe you can customize your own homemade granola by picking your favorite nuts, grains, and dried fruit. The prep time should only take around 5-7 minutes, plus 30 minutes of baking, so it’s a pretty simple and easy recipe to execute.

Build Your Own Healthy Granola:

Dry Ingredients:

• 4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 tablespoon of your favorite spiceEx- cinnamon, pumpkin spice, or cloves
• 1 cup raw nuts/seeds Ex-chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds, sunflower seeds, or pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup of coconut or more oats, quinoa, or nuts
• 1/2 cup chopped dried fruit Ex- cranberries, raisins, apricots, apple, or pineapple (*Dried fruit usually tends to have a lot of added sugar. To cut down on sugar look for a reduced sugar option of your dried fruit, or look for dried fruit with no added sugar.*)
• 1 pinch of salt

Wet Ingredients:

• ¼ cup of oil Ex-olive oil or canola oil
• 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract
• ¼ cup of honey or 100% pure maple syrup

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
• Mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients
• Spread ingredients onto a baking dish/baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper
• Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown

If you have diabetes, you can always use less honey or dried fruit for better blood sugar control and be sure to include some protein with your breakfast (for example eggs, peanut butter, or cottage cheese). Also, keep in mind that with granola you don’t need as large of a portion as your typical cereal. A single serving of granola is only ¼ Cup. This serving should be appropriate for a snack. For breakfast, ½ Cup, should be reasonable for most people, but this of course will depend on your individual daily calorie needs.

If you would like to recreate the granola I made that’s pictured in the post, you can find my chosen ingredients below (the combination came out delicious):

• 4 C old fashioned oats
• 1 Tbsp of cinnamon
• 1 C raw chopped almonds
• ½ C quinoa + ½ C unsweetened coconut flakes ( I added the coconut halfway through the baking process so that it wouldn’t brown too much)
• ½ C reduced sugar dried cranberries and dried apricots with no added sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• ¼ C of canola oil
• 1 ½ tsp of vanilla extract
• ¼ C honey

You can try enjoying your granola solo, with milk, over plain unsweetened yogurt, or cottage cheese. I hope you find this week’s recipe as tasty as I did. Be sure to store your granola in an air tight container (I like to use a Mason jar) and it should last 1-2 weeks.

Like and comment below, letting me know how your granola came out. Also be sure to stay tuned for next week’s post that will feature the official launch of The Diet Duchess 7 day meal plans that will be available for sale in the Products section of the website.

Royally Yours,

The Diet Duchess