This Fruit-Sweetened Grain-Free Granola is simple to make, crunchy, and delicious! Perfect with milk for cereal or to sprinkle on top of pudding and yogurt! Vegan and paleo friendly too!
If you’re cutting out sugar or grains this month, here is a delicious granola that’s both grain-free and sweetened only with fruit! I use a combo of nuts and seeds, plus a blend of dates and ripe banana/apple sauce for this granola. The nice thing is that it’s very customizable and you can easily swap out any of the listed nuts/seeds for one of your choice.
Because of the fruit blend, the mixture is quite a bit wet, which means it needs a good amount of time in the oven. I used both applesauce and bananas, and my family loved the banana version best. I used a very ripe, spotted brown banana, so it added both sweetness and flavor! The applesauce version was also delicious, but less pronounced and because I used unsweetened applesauce, not as sweet.
This granola is both vegan and paleo friendly, and is delicious as cereal or a crunchy topping on yogurt or smoothie bowls! I hope you give this healthier version a try and enjoy it for yourself!
Fruit-Sweetened Grain-Free Granola
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 50 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Description
This crunchy and delicious paleo friendly, grain-free granola is sweetened with just fruit. Perfect with milk for cereal or to sprinkle on top of your pudding and yogurt! Vegan friendly, plus free of gluten, grains, dairy, and refined sugar!
Ingredients
1 cup sliced or chopped raw almonds, or other nut of choice
1 cup chopped raw pecans, or other nut of choice
1 cup large unsweetened coconut flakes/chips, or other nut of choice
1/2 cup raw sunflower kernels, or other nut/seed of choice
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds, or other nut/seed of choice
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1 tablespoons ground flaxseed
1 cup pitted dates (pre-soaked and drained, if hard)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce or mashed ripe banana (the more brown and spotted, the better)
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil, olive oil, or other oil of choice
1/2–1 teaspoon cinnamon, optional
pinch of salt (omit if using salted nuts)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 275ºF. Line a large baking sheet (or two, depending on size) with parchment paper or non-stick silicon mat.
In a large bowl, combine almonds, pecans, coconut, sunflower kernels, pumpkin seeds, flaxseed, and chia seeds. Set aside.
In a food processor or blender, combine dates, apple sauce, oil, cinnamon, and salt, blending until smooth. Scrape down sides and blend again, if needed.
Pour fruit mixture into the bowl of nuts/seeds and stir until evenly combined.
Spread granola mixture evenly into prepared pan(s). It doesn’t have to be perfectly flat, but not too clumpy where it won’t cook in the middle. Bake for 25 minutes. Stir granola and bake for another 15–25 minutes, until golden and fragrant. If granola begins to get brown too early, you can lower the temperature by 25º.
Granola will crisp up as it cools. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
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