I love granola, but I haven’t found any brands that I just love at the store that are gluten free and celiac safe. So, I decided it was time to make my own. This Cinnamon Vanilla Granola is perfectly crunchy, very hearty, and has just the right amount of cinnamon and vanilla.
Cinnamon Vanilla Granola is high in protein, healthy fats, fiber and lots of B Vitamins. So if you are looking for an easy way to add good nutrients to your breakfast routine, this homemade granola is just the right thing. And although it takes some time to cool, it really comes together quickly.
Finding rolled oats that are gluten free isn’t as hard as it used to be. And when you buy in bulk, it saves you so much money. My favorite gluten free rolled oats are on Amazon and come in a nice handy bucket. There are other options too that are slightly cheaper, but I like having a bucket to easily store it in my pantry.
The honey for this recipe is really up to you. I love the organic raw honey that you can buy at Costco, well, at least at my Costco. Any honey will work for this recipe. I love the flavor of the one at Costco best of all the honey’s I have had. But I have also bought organic honey at Walmart and thought that was also a good flavor of honey. Yes, honey adds flavor! So don’t count out that ingredient when baking and cooking. Choose a good quality honey to add great flavor.
For the coconut oil, I like to use refined, but if you love coconut flavor, using the unrefined will add that flavor profile to your granola. I usually buy the Better Body refined coconut oil at Walmart or Costco. Costco has a giant tub, so if you don’t use it that frequently, a Walmart size might be your best option.
One last reminder, every oven bakes differently. I bake this recipe for 40 minutes in my oven. That will allow the granola to finish hardening as it cools. You don’t want your granola to still be “soft” after it’s done cooling. It will still taste fine, but I like my granola to add crunch to my yogurt or milk and fruit.
Cinnamon Vanilla Granola
Equipment
- 1 baking sheet
- parchment paper
- large bowl
- cutting board
- glass measuring cup
- knife, spoons, measuring cups & spoons
Ingredients
- 4 C gluten free rolled oats
- 2 C lightly salted almonds, roughly chopped you can buy chopped almonds or also process in your blender
- 1/3 C refined coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 C raw organic honey
- 1 TBSP vanilla
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Prepare baking sheet with parchment paper
- In a very large bowl, add the rolled oats. Set aside.
- In a microwave safe glass measuring cup, melt the coconut oil. Add the raw honey, vanilla, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- Gather a cutting board and knife for chopping. Roughly chop the two cups of almonds and add this to the bowl with the rolled oats. This takes some time to chop, so if you are short on time, pulse your almonds in the blender or simply use almonds that are already chopped. I like to have some larger chunks of almonds in my granola, but any way you like it is great!
- Pour the liquid mixture over the oats/almonds and stir well making sure to get all the ingredients evenly coated.
- Pour onto prepared baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake at 300 degrees for 40 minutes. You want your granola to be firm and not sticking together. It will continue to harden as it cools so that you are left with a perfectly crunchy granola.
- Remove baking sheet from oven to cool on the counter. I like to put the baking sheet on a cooling rack to help speed up the process. I also like to take a fork, after about 30 minutes of cooling time, and start to break up the granola in to smaller pieces. This helps the granola to cool completely and leave you that crunchy taste we love in granola.
- Serve with fresh fruit, yogurt, or milk.
- Store this granola in an air-tight container for 2-3 weeks.
Notes
Breakfast is often the hardest meal of the day for my celiac kids. Sometimes we don’t have time to cook breakfast, or there isn’t any left-overs to heat up(which they love). This is a way to get a hearty, nutrient dense breakfast option for your family. I like to eat this granola both with fruit and yogurt or milk- I love it both ways.
This simple recipe also works great for those with lots of allergies. You can easily leave out the almonds, or switch to a different nut of choice. When you make granola at home, you don’t have to eat the extra additives and preservatives that commercial products have to use to make them shelf stable. And for some of us, that makes a big difference in how happy our stomach is.:)
I hope you enjoy making this granola for your family.
Much love.
Emma
