I really enjoy inventing recipes … although, I have had plenty of flops come out of the kitchen – just ask my family about the sweet potato burgers.
Or maybe not.
But for the most part, I love the challenge of coming up with new dishes and, based on the empty plates, I think everyone else loves eating the creations.
One of my favorite foods to experiment with is granola. I have so many ideas for different flavors of granola. And homemade granola is much healthier than store-bought granola. Most varieties in the store are so loaded with sweeteners that they really should be called cookie crumbs.
A Healthier Granola Recipe
To reduce your morning sugar load, this granola uses apple juice concentrate, applesauce, and pure maple syrup to help sweeten. Just be sure to use pure maple syrup, not that stuff that they pretend is made in a little log cabin in Vermont by your chubby aunt from the south. (Am I getting two different brands confused? Anyway …) The first ingredient there is corn syrup.
The applesauce in this recipe also replaces some of the oil normally needed to make light, crispy granola. So this granola is much lower in sugar and fat than most store-bought varieties.
And it costs less than half as much!
- 1/2 cup apple juice concentrate
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 2 tablespoons
- pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup oil (I use melted coconut oil)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 6 cups old-fashion oats (not quick oats)
- 3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup raw sugar or evaporated cane juice
- 1 teaspoon salt, scant
- 2 cups chopped dried apples – You can dry your own apples if you’d like.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together juice concentrate, applesauce, maple syrup, oil, and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, mix together oats, walnuts, sugar, and salt.
- Stir oat mixture into liquid ingredients.
- Spread mixture about 1/2 inch thick on baking sheet. Bake at 250°F for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and stir. Return to oven and bake for an addition 30 minutes or until granola is golden brown.
- Baking time will vary depending on oven, type of baking sheet used, and how thick the granola is on the baking sheet.
- When granola is golden brown, turn oven off and leave granola in oven until completely dry.
- When granola is done, it should be lightly browned and completely dry.
- Remove from oven to cool.
- When granola is cool, stir in dried apples.
Store in a cool place in an airtight container.
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Thanks for this recipe, I will make this soon! What other sweetner can I used instead of the sugar and same have the same results in texture and color? Sometimes I change for dates but then it does not come out as crispy and it comes out dark. Can I use a combination of agave,sucunat or even honey or one of these mentioned with the same results?
Hi Zoraida,
I have tried making granola without sugar (and I’m still working on a really good sugar-free granola recipe), but it doesn’t seem to turn out as light and crispy as granola with sugar.
In this recipe, if you use honey or agave, the dry ingredient/wet ingredient ratio will be off too much.
You could try just reducing the sugar amount (or maybe eliminating it). It won’t be as sweet, but you could make up for that by adding dried fruit before serving.
I’ve never tried sucanat in granola; that may work since there are other liquid sweeteners in this recipe.
Jennifer
What a great idea, adding apple sauce to the granola! Also, apple-walnuts, totally my kind of combination