Cranberry Almond Granola


I absolutely love granola, but I hardly ever buy it because every time I read the nutrition facts in the store I'm reminded that most granola is full of calories and sugar. I've tried a few granola recipes before and none of them were worth blogging about... until I tried this one.

This granola uses unsweetened applesauce in place of oil, which reduces the calories and makes it a lot healthier. I also used a combination of brown sugar, agave, and a little bit of maple sugar to sweeten it. It's not super sweet oatmeal, so if you're looking for something sweet just add a little more sugar. I adapted the recipe from David Lebovitz, and it uses 1 tablespoon of oil along with applesauce. I'm not sure why, but I went with it anyway. The recipe is really adaptable and it will be my base recipe for granola from now. Next time I think I'll throw in some sunflower seeds and maybe some dried apricots. The flavor combination are endless!

Recipe: Cranberry Almond Granola
Highly Adapted from: David Lebovitz
Ingredients:
  • 3 cups old fashioned rolled outs
  • 1 cup sliced almonds
  • 3/4 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
  • 1/4 light brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/4 cup agave (I used light), or honey, or maple syrup
  • 2 tbls maple syrup
  • 1 tbls vegetable oil
  • 1/2 - 3/4 cup dried sweetened cranberries (or other dried fruit)
Directions:
  1. Preheat the oven to 300F (150C).
  2. In a very large bowl, mix together the oats, almonds, coconut, toasted wheat germ, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.
  3. In a small saucepan, warm the applesauce with the agave, maple syrup, and oil.
  4. Mix the applesauce mixture into the dry ingredients until thoroughly dispersed, then divide and spread the mixture evenly on two baking sheets.
  5. Bake the granola for about 45 - 60minutes, stirring every ten minutes, until the granola is deep golden brown.
  6. Remove from oven, mix in the dried fruit, then cool completely. Store the granola in a large, airtight container. It will keep for up to one month.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh this looks perfectly delicious

Jennie said...

Yum! This looks wonderful. I always suffer from the same granola quandary so I'll definitely have to try this out.

Julie @ Willow Bird Baking said...

Just made my first granola the other day, and just love it. This one looks hearty and delicious! I have a bran flake recipe on my post that would be lovely with this granola in the form of a bowl o' cereal!

Patricia @ ButterYum said...

Looks wonderful - I'm quickly becoming a huge David Lebovitz fan.

:)
ButterYum

Emily said...

I have this granola in the oven right now, so I'll let you know how it turns out. So far, it smells amazing! I saw this recipe, noted that I had all of the ingredients already, and went for it. I've never used applesauce in granola before, so I was excited to try something new!

-Emily

Emily said...

Okay, so this is my new go-to granola recipe. My husband has already snacked on a bunch of it, and I gave the rest to my parents as a gift. I am currently making my second batch for my hubby. I think it's the applesauce that makes it so good! Thank you for posting the recipe!

-Emily

SugarCooking said...

Glad you liked it, Emily! My husband loved it too. He scarfed down most of it in 3 days and I think he was a little sad when it as all gone!

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