Nut Free, Gluten Free, Dairy Free Low Sugar… The Greatest Granola
A couple of weeks ago, we found ourselves for our weekly shop in Harris Teeter instead of Trader Joe’s. Along with “mainstream grocery,” there are items that I wouldn’t normally purchase at TJs or things that I might have forgotten all about.
On this particular trip I somehow found myself in the cereal aisle (like, what?!). And there it was: Purely Elizabeth granola. I had to have a bag – it’s one of the only nut-free granolas that is out there, and I knew I would be lucky if the bag lasted me all week (it didn’t).
But when the bag was empty – my memory jogged back to making granola a few years back – so of course I was down the rabbit hole trying to find the *actual* recipe I used because I knew it included mashed banana and was v low in sugar. Like literally, if you look at my search history from this one day you would have been like, “give up.” I swore it came from Bon Appetit, but it didn’t sound that familiar but it was the closest I got. Then just out of curiosity, I googled, “Purely Elizabeth” granola homemade. Bam. So I figured I would kind of combine the two and see how it worked out.
Spoiler: it worked out well.
This granola is crunchy, and not super sweet (I add only a little honey in lieu of the agave or maple like the recipes below), and because of that I don’t find myself overeating it like I normally would. It is so simple to make. Eat the larger clusters by hand – sprinkle the other morsels over yogurt or a smoothie or roll a banana in it!
What I love about this recipe is that it’s full of great fiber, fats, and nut-free. You can essentially swap some of the ingredients in and out – play with it to fill whatever your taste buds desire. While it’s a bit of a PITA to stir as this cooks (coming from the girl that doesn’t put sugar cookies into the fridge before rolling) it’s well worth it. My suggestion is to make this *before* you make anything else so you’re already in the kitchen every time the timer goes off. An added bonus: your house smells amazing when this is all done.
Whitesell Granola
*thanks to and adapted from BA Recipe and Aly Robinson
Ingredients
4 T chia seeds
4 T water
1 egg white
2 T coconut oil (melted)
1/3 cup mashed banana (about 1 small)
2 cup gluten free oats
3 T sunflower seeds
2 T pumpkin seeds
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cardamom
Parchment paper
Golden raisins (optional- if you have them on hand from THE Salad and feel like a sweeter granola add them!)
How To:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
In a small bowl, combine chia and water. Let sit.
In a large bowl, combine the egg white and mashed banana. In a separate small bowl or Pyrex, melt your coconut oil. Set aside to cool (you don’t want to scramble your egg white – trust me)
Add honey to egg and banana mixture.
Add the thickened chia seeds to the mixture and combine well.
Add your coconut oil next. Stir.
Add oats. Stir until well coated.
Add both seed varieties and all spices. Mix.
Spread onto parchment prepared sheet pan and back for 40-45 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes (yes I know this step is annoying but both methods called for it).
Optional step: Once cooled, add in raisins. This stays in an airtight container well for about a week or two – if it can last that long.
