Homemade granola recipe using coconut oil & honey
This cashew coconut granola recipe is easy, tasty, and healthy! A few years ago I would occasionally buy granola at the store, and although it usually tasted good, it was full of sugar and other things I didn’t necessarily want to be eating. One of my friends suggested I make my own and that it was actually quite easy. I found a few recipes and ended up making my own concoction that I have stuck with for years.
This granola recipe uses coconut oil and a mixture of honey and coconut sugar, so no refined sugar at least. I would love to use our own honey, but right now our bees are busy making honey still. In the absence of your own honey, I would recommend finding a good local honey instead., since it has all the goodness of local pollen. This winter I ate a bit of our honey everyday and I really think it was a key factor in my allergies staying at bay this spring. You can read more about our bee learning experiences here.
One of the key things with granola is to keep an eye on it when you have it in the oven. Since not all ovens cook the same, I would recommend keeping a watchful eye on it the first round, just to be sure that it doesn’t end up too crispy. My favorite way to eat this homemade granola is on top of plain yogurt, topped with chia seeds, hemp seeds, fresh fruit, toasted coconut chips (like Bare), and honey of course. This granola has just enough sweetness, but I love just a tad more honey to add some flavor to the plain yogurt. This can also be a tasty meal used as cereal with milk or a dairy free option like coconut/almond milk. I leave it in a Pyrex container for up to 10 days, but it usually doesn’t last that long with Tony and I around. Enjoy the recipe!
Cashew Coconut Granola
Ingredients
- 1 cup Cashews (almonds or other nuts will work as well)
- 3 cup Old Fashioned Oats (not instant)
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/3 cup Coconut Sugar
- 1/3 cup Honey (local is best)
- 3 Tbsp Coconut Oil (room temp or melted)
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 cup Dried Cranberries (optional)
- 1/2 cup Shredded Coconut (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat over to 350 degrees
- Use a food processor to chop up cashews, but be sure to leave some larger pieces in the mixture.
- In a large mixing bowl add nuts, oats, salt, and coconut sugar and stir to combine
- In a small bowl mix honey, coconut oil, and vanilla
- Pour the honey mixture into the large mixing bowl over the oat mixture. Stir well to combine and make sure the honey mixture is coating the dry ingredients.
- If you want to add any extra ingredients, now is the time, I personally add some shredded coconut and cranberries.
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, divide the granola mixture evenly between the 2 sheets and spread the mixture over the parchment paper.
- Bake for 5 mins in oven, remove and stir granola, cook for another 4-5 mins. Keep an eye on the granola to make sure it isn't cooking too quickly!
- Remove from oven and cool. I personally just slide the parchment onto a cooling sheet, another option is to place onto a large cutting board. Let the granola cool for at least 10 mins. Once it has cooled, break apart and crumble the granola and store in an airtight container.
