The BEST Homemade Coconut Granola

Forget the grocery store, you can make even better granola at home! The BEST Homemade Coconut Granola shines with some toasted oats, shredded coconut, pistachios, dried apricots, and white chocolate!

Many pantry staples are convenient to buy at the market, but few people realize how easy it is to make these staples from scratch! Not only that, but often homemade versions are more delicious and healthier than packaged. After all, when you use your favorite ingredients, you create recipes unique to you!

Granola is one of the easiest and tastiest foods to make homemade, and you likely have a lot of the ingredients already! The BEST Homemade Coconut Granola takes all of the best elements of granola, like dried fruit, nuts, chocolate, and coconut, and combines them into one perfect snack or breakfast. Use it to top some Greek yogurt, eat with plant milk, or enjoy this crunchy granola on its own!

Choosing Granola Ingredients

Granola is one of the most customizable foods you can make from scratch. Many markets have varieties such as blueberry almond, chocolate pecan, pumpkin spice and so on. You might already have your favorite flavor combination that you want to try! Be creative and explore different nuts, fruits, sweeteners, candies, and seeds. 

You may also want to use up some pantry ingredients that you already have. This can influence unique ingredient combinations that you love. Oats and neutral oil are the starting ingredients, but from there you can add whatever you like! Here is a list of some of the ingredients you can combine for your ideal customized granola.

Dried Fruits

Dried fruits are ideal for granola due to their sweetness, shelf life, and lack of moisture. Any ingredients that bring moisture to the table can make your granola soggy and spoil quickly. Try any of these in your mix:

• Dried cranberries
• Raisins
• Dried apricots
• Prunes
• Dried cherries
• Dates
• Dehydrated berries
• Banana chips

Nuts

Nuts will add crunch and texture to your granola. Of course, it is perfectly acceptable to leave out nuts if you are allergic. Keep in mind that you are roasting the nuts in the oven along with the oats, so buying roasted nuts initially may create too much browning in the oven! Try these in your granola:

• Pecans
• Almonds
• Walnuts
• Pistachios
• Macadamia nuts
• Cashews
• Peanuts

Seeds

For those allergic to nuts, or those looking to add more nutrition to your granola, consider adding some of these seeds:

• Sunflower seeds
• Chia seeds
• Flax seeds
• Sesame seeds
• Pumpkin seeds

Sweeteners

An essential part of your granola is the sweetener. There are many natural sweeteners to use in addition to sugar. Each sweetener will bring a unique flavor to your granola, including:

• Honey
• Maple syrup
• Agave
• Keto syrup
• Brown sugar

Additional Ingredients

As you can see, granola is super customizable! Feel free to add any of these additional ingredients to create your perfect granola, such as:

• Cocoa powder
• Peanut butter
• Toffee chips
• Pumpkin spice
• Cinnamon
• Vanilla extract
• Puffed rice or millet
• Coconut

Making Crunchy Granola Clusters

One of the tastiest parts of homemade granola are the crunchy, textured clusters that form from the heat of the oven. But, how do we achieve such golden nuggets of granola? Here’s how!

The first step is to use enough of your chosen sweetener. The sweetener needs to coat the ingredients and to well-caramelize in the oven. Without the sugar or sugar substitute, the ingredients will not clump together easily.

The sticky confection will be piping hot out of the oven, and it is important that you do not touch the granola at this time. One reason being that it can very easily burn you from the hot sugars. Second, the sweetener that is hot and bubbly now must cool completely to solidify. Once cooled, you can then break up your granola and marvel at the gorgeous golden clusters!

Ingredients in the BEST Homemade Coconut Granola

After much testing, these ingredients have been found to create the most delicious granola on earth! They are:

• 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup pistachios (or any mix of nuts you prefer)
• ½ cup sunflower seeds
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ⅓ cup melted coconut oil (here’s a great coconut oil brand)
• ¼ cup honey or maple syrup
• ⅓ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• ⅔ cup chopped dried apricots
• ⅓ cup white chocolate chips

How to Make the BEST Homemade Granola

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line a sheet tray with parchment paper and set it aside. 

To a large bowl, add the oats, pistachios, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, and salt. Mix to combine. 

Next, add the oil and honey. Mix well. 

Dump the mixture out onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Press into an even layer. 

Bake for 30 minutes, tossing halfway through. 

Remove from the oven and add the coconut to the granola. Stir well and return to the oven for another 5 minutes. 

Remove from the oven and allow the granola to cool slightly. Break up the granola lightly when cooled. 

Once the granola is completely cooled, add the apricots and optional white chocolate chips. 

Notes/Tips/Troubleshooting: Be sure to bake your coconut for much less time than the rest of the ingredients. Coconut can brown very quickly and become burnt.

Serve with plant or dairy milk and eat it like cereal, bake into waffles or muffins, or enjoy with yogurt and fresh fruit.

Storage: Store the granola in an airtight container until ready to use, up to 1 week.

Nutritional Facts:

Calories: 205

Total fat: 13.3g

Saturated fat: 8.6g

Cholesterol: 1g

Sodium: 129mg

Total Carbohydrate: 19.6g

Fiber: 2.4g

Sugars: 10.1g

Protein: 3.6g

Vitamin D: 0mcg

Calcium: 26mg

Iron: 1mg

Potassium: 104mg

FAQ

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