Name: Gluten Free Maple Almond Sea Salt Granola
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 3 cups old fashioned, rolled oats; 1/3 cup seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, flax, chia); 1/3 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut; 1/2 cup quinoa flakes (optional); 3/4 cup puffed amaranth (optional); 1/2 cup chopped nuts (almonds, cashews, walnuts, pecans); 2 tsp cinnamon; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/4 cup melted coconut oil; 1/2 cup maple syrup; 1/3 cup almond butter

I absolutely love granola.

One of my favourite childhood memories of my mom is watching her stir the homemade trays of granola on top of the stove. It was one of the items that she always made from scratch + that we almost always had on hand. She used to make a killer chocolate version. I feel like I can still smell it if I try really hard…

For nostalgic reasons + for tummy reasons, I just really love granola. I love it served with berries. I love a big bowl of it dowsed in cold almond milk. I love it sprinkled on a smoothie. I love it straight, by the handful, right from the bag.

But, what I don’t love about granola, especially gluten free granola, is the price. My favourite tasting brands can easily run $6 a bag and ain’t nobody got time for that. Rather than dropping an entire pay check + hoarding bags of American granola in my English kitchen, I created this Gluten Free Maple Almond Sea Salt version, and I actually prefer it to any store bought version I’ve found.

What Makes a Great Granola

The perfect granola, in my opinion, requires balance. I want salt + I want sweet. I want crunch + I want chunks. I tried combination after combination to get this granola recipe exactly as I like it. But please, feel free to change this recipe however YOU like. Add in dried fruit! Change up the nuts. Use a different nut or seed butter. The options are endless.

For me, a great granola starts with texture. I find that old fashioned, rolled oats hold together better in the cooking process and offer a really great bite. Adding in other gluten free grains like quinoa flakes and amaranth puffs not only changes up the nutritional profile, but it also helps to create those lovely chunks that we’re all after.

For flavour and for healthy fat, I generally add walnuts, cashews or pecans to this granola. I’ve tried them on their own and a combination of the three. All of them were delish. I’m sure that you could chop and change these nuts with any of your preference!

Seeds, such as chia, flax, sunflower, and pumpkin are a great source of fibre, plus they add all sorts of interesting texture. Ladies, seeds have also been known to benefit hormone balance – win!

Cinnamon + sea salt serve as the flavour cherry-on-top of this recipe.

The Importance of the Sticky Stuff

Aside from the great building blocks of a variety of dry ingredients, a perfect granola requires something sticky to hold it all together. I’ve been very strategic in our choices here.

Maple syrup adds the subtle sweetness that this granola needs without requiring any refined sugar.
Coconut oil helps the oats, nuts and seeds to brown beautifully as they toast in the oven without making the granola taste like coconut. Coconut oil is a great option for roasting because of its structural ability to withstand high heat without oxidising and creating harmful free radicals.
Almond butter tastes freaking delicious, which is reason enough to add it to this mix. However, it also helps with creating those gorgeous clusters. Almonds are also proven to lower cholesterol and the risk for heart disease, so…

Feel free to change up the components of your liquid ingredients to suit your tastes! Don’t like maple syrup? Try honey or agave! Not sure about almond butter? Peanut, cashew or even sunflower seed butter would accomplish the same thing here.

Why Bother With Homemade

Aside from the price tag savings, the main reason that I love to make granola at home is because I get to control the ingredients. I love knowing exactly how much sugar, salt, etc. is in the food that I’m eating and serving to people that I love.

And guys, it’s literally as simple as stirring together a few ingredients. The hardest part of making this Gluten Free Maple Almond Sea Salt Granola is waiting the 30 minutes for it to bake in the oven.

It’s so simple.

Plus, one batch of this granola will yield somewhere between 15-20 servings depending on how much you enjoy at one time. The typical bag that I buy from the grocery store for $6 or $7? It has 8 servings. I’m not about that life.

I love to bake up a big batch of this granola over the weekend. It makes the house smell incredible, and it means that we have granola for meals, snacks and desserts for the next few weeks. I store mine in a large mason jar in the cupboard. I’m not sure how long it’ll last because we always eat it too quickly, ha!

This stuff is delish sprinkled on top of smoothies, layered with berries and yogurt or eaten straight with a big dash of milk. You didn’t hear it here, but it’s DIVINE on top of vanilla ice cream with an extra swirl of almond butter…

If you do whip up your own batch of this gluten free maple almond sea salt granola, which you absolutely should because it’s delicious, I’d love to know what you think! Tag me in your photos over in instagram or leave me a comment below.

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