If you’ve ever priced gluten free granola at the store, you know it can get pretty pricey which is a problem if you have someone in your family who really likes granola. When you have several people who like granola, you end up using granola as a garnish rather than as the main breakfast dish because it’s just too expensive. One of those store-bought bags of granola usually equals roughly 4 bowls of cereal – maybe.
Since I buy gluten free oats in bulk, the cost of making oatmeal and granola goes down significantly. I also buy my raisins, nuts, honey, coconut oil, and coconut in bulk as they all will keep for a long time if stored properly. I like buying in bulk not only because it saves me money but also because it allows me to shop for staples less frequently. Instead of going to the store, I can just go into my bulk food storage and refill my every day use containers. It’s like having my own little bulk grocery store.
Munchkin has recently started to enjoy coconut and honey more. She still doesn’t like to eat honey as a sweetener on things, but she is now good with it being used as an ingredient in things like granola. This change allowed me to change up my granola recipe to make a much healthier version that tastes delicious.
I currently only have raisins on hand, so that is the dried fruit that I used in this batch. I can’t wait until I’m able to dry some cherries this year as I think that tartness of the cherries will be really nice in the mix.
This granola isn’t really one that I would use in a trail mix as it works better for eating with a spoon. It’s perfect for a breakfast cereal as well as for a topper on yogurt or ice cream.
Ingredients
- 6 cups gluten free rolled oats
- 1 cup whole flax seeds
- 2 cup roughly chopped nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts…)
- 2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup liquid coconut oil
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
- 2 cups dried fruit (raisins, cherries…)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, combine the oats, flax seeds, nuts, coconut, cinnamon, and coconut sugar.
- In a separate small bowl (or in glass measuring cup), combine honey, coconut oil, vanilla, and salt.
- Combine wet and dry mixtures and pour onto 2 lined sheet pans (jelly roll pans with lips work best).
- Bake for 45 minutes. Stir every 15 minutes or so to make sure the granola browns evenly.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.
- Transfer into a large bowl and stir in dried fruit until evenly distributed.
- Once the granola is completely cooled, store in an airtight container.
