Almond granola with maple and cherry flavors is a heart-healthy, protein-packed breakfast or snack. This gluten-free, vegan recipe is perfect for making in bulk to enjoy throughout the week.
Homemade granola is just one of those fun-to-make recipes, and is the perfect catchall for pantry purges.
If you’re like me and have little odds and ends lingering around in your cupboards (2 tablespoons of pumpkin seeds here, ½ cup of dried fruit there, the occasional cacao nib, etc.), granola is a great job placement for said ingredients.
PLUS, it makes for a healthful addition to your daily diet and is easy to make in bulk.
BOOM! granola is queen.
You can view this almond granola recipe as a heart-healthy breakfast, a protein-packed snack, a delicious resource to satisfy your massive crunch craving, and/or your pack-and-go trail mix to fuel your outdoor adventures.
My basic formula for almond granola creation is 3 parts rolled oats, 1 part raw nuts, 1 part raw seeds, and 1 part dried fruit.
A liquid sweetener, such as honey or pure maple syrup, + flavor additions, such as ground cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla extract, etc. are where you can get creative in generating that epic flavor profile for optimal granola experience.
Typically when making almond granola, I use an egg white to generate mega clusters, but decided to make the recipe vegan using a flax “egg” for this go-round.
It worked marvelously!
This is now my preferred method because it means I don’t need to store the granola in the refrigerator, and it adds healthful omega-3s to the granola.
Just be sure you allow your granola to rest for 30ish minutes once it comes out of the oven, as the rest time is essential in mega cluster formation.
This straight-forward recipe is easy to prepare – simply pulse the oats, nuts, and seeds in a food processor or blender, stir in the remaining “wet” ingredients, and bake on a large baking sheet.
Recipe Adaptations:
- The raw walnuts and almonds can be replaced with your favorite nut such as cashews, pecans, or pistachios. So long as you use 1 cup total of raw nuts, you’re good to go!
- If using honey instead of pure maple syrup, be sure to watch the granola carefully while it’s baking, as honey has a lower burn temperature than pure maple syrup. Check on the granola after 25 minutes, and keep a close eye every couple of minutes thereafter.
- You can also use rice syrup, coconut sugar, coconut palm syrup, or agave nectar as the sweetener for this recipe.
- Use any oil you have on hand in place of grapeseed oil, such as olive oil, almond oil, coconut oil, or avocado oil. I love the flavor of coconut oil in granola!
- The dried cranberries can be omitted or replaced with any dried fruit, such as blueberries, raisins, strawberries, etc. Just be sure to avoid using sugar-sweetened dried fruit – instead use juice-sweetened dried fruit.
- Pumpkin seeds can be replaced with raw sunflower seeds or omitted entirely.
- You can replace the flax “egg” with one egg white. If you choose to go this route, beat the egg white until very frothy. You will need to store the granola in the refrigerator in order to avoid spoilage.
More Healthy Granola Recipes:
Get your crunch on!
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Cherry Maple Almond Granola
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1/2 cup avocado oil*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 3 cups gluten-free rolled oats
- 1/2 cup raw walnuts
- 1/2 cup raw almonds
- 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup dried cherries**
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Prepare a flax "egg" (i.e. egg replacer) by combining the ground flax seed and water in a small bowl. Allow the mixture to sit, stirring occasionally, until it thickens to the consistency of an egg, about 10 minutes.
- Place the almonds and walnuts in a food processor or blender and pulse a few times, just until the nuts are coarsely chopped. As an alternative, you can carefully chop the nuts using a sharp knife.
- Add the chopped nuts, oats, pumpkin seeds, shredded coconut, ground cinnamon, sea salt, and pumpkin seeds (all the dry ingredients except for the dried cranberries) to a large mixing bowl and stir well.
- Whisk together the oil, pure maple syrup, vanilla, and almond extract. Pour this mixture into the bowl with the oats and nuts, along with the flax seed "egg." Stir well until everything is well coated.
- Pour the granola mixture onto the lined baking sheet. Use your hands to press the granola mixture into the sheet, creating an even layer.
- Place the sheet of granola on the center rack of the preheated oven and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the edges are golden-brown. Remove the granola from the oven and allow it to sit for one hour - this allows the granola to set up and makes for large granola clusters. Once cooked and cooled, mix in the dried cherries.
- Transfer the cooled granola to a large zip lock bag or jar for storing. Store granola for up to 10 days. Enjoy with fruit, yogurt, and/or choice of milk.
Looks like both of us are on the granola page this week! 🙂
I’m loving this combo with the flax and dried cherries. I think I’d probably inhale the entire batch in a few days!
I thought the same thing when I saw your granola post. I can’t get enough of granola, myself…we should definitely combine forces and make alllllll the granolas!
What a lovely looking granola – also love that there’s not a lot of sugar here – just the maple syrup – perfect!
What a great idea! This looks so yummy, and it will make a good snack for snowshoeing or x-country skiing this weekend.