Gluten free, grain-free, refined sugar-free paleo granola. This simple recipe incorporates nuts and seeds, plus – bonus points – you end up with huge granola clusters!
Do you ever get such a massive hankering for something crunchy that it can’t be contained, quenched, or satisfied with anything other than granola?
This happens to me regularly.
I go about my business eating my veggies and rice and salmon on a weekly basis, then all of a sudden, BOOM!
Mega need for something hard to chew on.
When these savage cravings occur, I head to the bulk bins at the store and buy up all the nuts and seeds to make my own paleo granola that is free of refined sugar and grains.
I love making homemade paleo granola because I have the ultimate control of how much sugar goes in. Plus, I enjoy experimenting with various nuts, seeds, and flavors.
So here’s my go-to paleo granola.
It’s super straight-forward, incorporating ingredients you can buy in bulk from any grocery store.
I love eating it with a splash of almond milk and fresh seasonal fruit. If you’re fine with dairy, this paleo granola makes for an amazing topping to yogurt!
This granola has the perfect crispy crunch, plus you achieve huge granola clusters.
Largely-sized clusters are a major highlight of granola.
Tips For Preparing This Recipe
- Use a variety of nuts and seeds. Raw walnuts, cashews, almonds, macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seed…toss it all in!
- Use dried fruit and unsweetened coconut flakes. Both add natural sweetness and flavor without having to add processed sugar. Just be sure to use juice-sweetened dried fruit in order to keep this recipe paleo-friendly.
- Give your ingredients a good chop or run through the food processor. This will create itty bitty granola bits that make for great granola-ing.
- Use natural sweeteners. I used coconut sugar in my Walnut Granola Cluster recipe, honey in my Walnut & Date Granola recipe (and this one), and have also used pure maple syrup. Natural sweeteners a good granola make.
- Use an egg white and water. I know, it sounds strange. But it helps hold all of the ingredients together, and makes for a crispy granola with large clusters. We want the biggest clusters we can get.
How to Make Paleo Granola:
Whisk together the egg white and water in a bowl. Gather your paleo granola ingredients, you granola gathering fool 😉 .
Add the nutty and seedy ingredients to a blender or food processor (I use my Food Processor), and process for just a couple of seconds, grinding some of the nuts finely, and leaving many of the nuts chopped or whole.
Spread this granola mixture out on a parchment-lined baking sheet, creating an even layer, and bake.
Allow the granola to rest at least 30 minutes before breaking it into clusters using a spatula or wooden spoon. Be sure you let the granola sit when it’s out of the oven, as this is when the clustering magic happens.
You know the drill. It’s crunch time!
My cookbook, Paleo Power Bowls, is now available! CLICK HERE to check it out. Thank you for your support!
If you make this gluten-free granola recipe, please feel free to share a photo and tag @The.Roasted.Root on Instagram!
More Healthy Gluten-Free Granola Recipes:
- Grain-Free Tahini Granola
- Cinnamon Raisin Paleo Granola
- Walnut Granola Clusters
- Pumpkin Spice Granola
- Cherry Maple Almond Granola
The BEST Paleo Granola
Ingredients
- 1 egg white lightly beaten, see note*
- 2 tablespoons water see note*
- 2 cups raw walnuts
- 2 cup raw cashews
- 1 cup raw pumpkin seeds pepitas
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup dried cranberries see note**
- 3 tablespoons avocado oil see note***
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup or honey****
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Whisk together the egg white with the water until bubbly and slightly foamy in a small bowl.
- Add all ingredients, including the egg white/water mixture EXCEPT for the cranberries to a food processor. Pulse until well chopped and combined, but leave mixture nice and chunky.
- Spread the granola mixture evenly on the parchment-lined baking sheet into an even layer and bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until golden-brown and crispy.
- Remove granola from the oven and allow it to sit at least 20 minutes without stirring it – this is where the clustering happens, so be sure to not skip this step!!
- Use a spatula or wooden spoon to break the granola into clusters.
- Once cool, store the granola in a 2-quart sealable glass jar or zip lock bag.
- Eat granola with your favorite non-dairy milk or yogurt and fruit
Notes
Nutrition
YES! Mamby Pamby Granola need not apply in my books. My hubs LOVES granola and he came home with a big box of store bought, sugar and oil laden crap the other day. I was like 🙁
Now I am makin’ him some ‘o this healthy crunchy stuff. Pinned!
This is a pour from the jar, straight into my mouth kind of granola!
Oh my yumminess!!!
Your method for making paleo granola is amazing, and I can’t wait to try it out! I’ve always hand chopped the nuts when I make granola, but your blender method is going to revolutionize my granola endeavors!
we have been making no-bake granola lately but i must admit i miss the serious crunchy munch of baked granola on occassion! must make this asap =)
But seriously. Those clusters. My heart goes pitter patter.
It has been waaay too long since I’ve made granola! Your photos have me ready to go make a double batch right now.
Yum! This looks so good! I’m addicted to granola, but I’ve never tried a grain free version!
Crunch factor = 11 ! I can’t believe I’ve never made homemade granola…pshhh gotta change that asap, I love the coconut and cranberries.
I’ve heard amazing things about nut granolas! Definitely have to try this–it looks so crunchy and delicious! Also–the egg white trick is genius. I’m always picking out the clusters, so this will be life-changing.
Granola high five! I love your little blender trick. And since I’m happily blendtec-ing my life up right now…exsqueeze me while I pulse up all those nuts.
Wait….
Okay now. I knew the egg white trick but I didn’t know the water trick! This is one gorg granola, my deary. Love all the nuts and natural sweeteners and coconut and everythaaaaang!!!
I’m sure it works marvelously without the water too, but I’ve never tried it without 😉 This granola has your name written all over it. Dessert hummus meets paleo granola?? Don’t mind if I do!!
i wish i had this while doing whole30…eitherway it looks sooo good.
Ah yeah, it’s definitely a good one if you’re going on a paleo stint!
You read my mind. We need to make another batch of granola and this recipe will jazz up my go-to recipe. Thanks for the inspiration lady!!!
Heeeeeeeeeeeell yes! Let me know if you try it – it’s seriously the best granola I’ve made to date! 🙂
This looks so tasty! Kind of like Quaker Harvest Crunch that my fella loves so much. I’ll be trying this our for sure. I love impressing him with homemade versions of things that taste soooo much better than the store bought. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Oh yeah, your hubby definitely needs to lay mouth on this granola. It’s super crunchy and the perfect amount of sweetness. He’ll be making doe eyes at you in no time 😉 Hope you had a fun weekend, Sharon!
I haven’t made granola in months, like a lot of months. It’s a sad situation. Thanks for helping me turn this trend around….super excited to give this crunchy paleo version a try!
Hope you try it! Paleo granola is awesome because of how flavorful and crunchy it is. Love me some oats, but an all-nut granola is amazeballs. 😉