Name: Low-Sugar Tropical Granola
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 80 min
Total time: 95 min
Ingredients: 3 3/4 cups rolled oats (gluten-free if desired); 3/4 cup chipped coconut ((also called flaked coconut)); 2/3 cup chopped raw cashews; 3 tablespoons turbinado sugar (optional); 1/4 cup date sugar; 1/4 cup orange juice concentrate (or pineapple juice concentrate, thawed or warmed); 1/3 cup mashed banana ((about 1 small banana)); 1/4 cup melted coconut oil ((for oil-free granola, see note)); 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla; 1/2 cup dried pineapple or mango or apricots (or a mixture of all); 1/2 cup dried bananas

Mmmmm … homemade granola fresh from the oven!

Why not just buy granola?

Why make your own granola instead of just buying at the grocery store? Well, there are a few reasons.

One, it saves a bunch of money. Store-bought granola can cost anywhere from 3 to 9 times the price of homemade.

Second, it’s healthier. Most store-bought granola is high in sugar and oil.

Third, you can make it how you like it!

And, the most important reason? It makes your house smell amazing!

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Here’s what this granola is all about:

Oats

Oats are a great source of slimming fiber – which is the magic ingredient for weight loss.

I use old-fashioned (regular rolled) oats in my granola because they keep their shape better than quick oats. Oat groats and steel-cut oats are best for cooking on the stove or in a crockpot (like this Overnight Oats Deluxe recipe).

Nuts

I use chipped (flaked) coconut and cashews in this recipe. They really add to the tropical flavor of this granola.

Sweetener

To make this a low-sugar granola, I sweetened it with banana, juice concentrate, and date sugar.

Date sugar isn’t really sugar at all, but rather dried dates that have been ground up. It’s a really healthy sweetener to use.

Juice concentrate can be found in the freezer section of your grocery store.

This recipe does call for a small amount of sugar, but you could leave that out if you wanted a sugar-free granola.

Dried fruit

This granola also gets some natural sweetness from dried fruit. Pineapple, apricots, and bananas are perfect here. Dried mangoes are also good. These dried mangoes are my favorite because they don’t have any chemicals or sugar added.

If you like your morning cereal sweeter, you can just add more dried fruit!

More about this yummy, low-sugar granola

How to make gluten free granola

Be sure to use certified gluten-free oats if you need gluten-free granola.

How to make nut-free granola

To make a nut-free granola, you could use seeds, like sunflower seeds, instead of nuts.

How to eat it

This granola is awesome topped with non-dairy milk, and it’s even better with added sliced fresh banana and diced mangoes. (I use frozen mangoes because they’re easy.)

How much this recipe makes

This Tropical Granola recipe makes about seven cups of granola.

How to store it

I like to keep my homemade granola in the freezer. That helps it keep its fresh flavor.

Oil-free granola?

Looking for an oil-free granola recipe? I have an amazing, absolutely scrumptious oil-free granola recipe in my Online Weight Loss Program.

Want more delicious breakfast recipes?

Be sure to check out this Berry Chia Breakfast Bowl and these Sugar-Free Banana Date Bites. We also love these Wonderful Waffles!