Beyond Sweet and Savory

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Homemade banana granola

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A while back we promised that we would share our banana granola recipe so here it is. We find ourselves making banana nut bread and banana granola when we have an abundance of overripe bananas. I like to make the most of our oven so I bake the banana bread first, then turn down the temperature for the granola once the bread is done. 

When baked right, you get clusters of soft and moist granola with rich banana flavor. This is hands down Vu’s and Aiden’s favorite granola. I pack this banana granola as a snack for Aiden when he goes to school.  It’s also our go to breakfast or snack when we don’t have time to cook, and we go through a batch just about every week. Hope you like it!


Banana Granola
4 medium sized overripe bananas, mashed
½ cup of honey
2 tablespoons of coconut oil, melted
3 cups of rolled oats
1 cup of unsweetened coconut threads
1 cup of sliced almonds
1 ½ cups of dried cranberries

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F.
2. In a food processor, combine the bananas, honey, and coconut oil and blend until smooth.
3. Place the oats, coconut threads, almonds, and cranberries in a large mixing bowl.
4. Pour the banana mixture over the dry ingredients and mix to coat. Make sure all the oats are moistened.
5. Spread the granola evenly on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
6. Bake in the oven for 60 minutes or until golden and dry, making sure to turn the granola with your spatula every 15 minutes to ensure even color and to prevent it from sticking to the pan.
7. Set the granola aside to cool to room temperature and crisp up.
8. Transfer to an airtight container and store up to a month.

 

Homemade Granola with Yogurt and Blueberries

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If you had told me five years ago that I would be making my own granola, I wouldn’t have believed you!  We eat quite a bit of granola at our house, usually for breakfast with milk and as a topping for yogurt and cottage cheese.  We recently switched from store bought to homemade granola because of Aiden’s allergy.  A few months back, we gave him a cluster of granola and he immediately broke out in hives.  It was the only thing that he had eaten so I suspected granola as the culprit.  Aiden has a milk protein allergy which predisposes him to hives, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and respiratory issues when he eats anything containing casein and/or whey.  Sadly, he can’t have any milk or milk products–cow’s milk, goat’s milk, sheep’s milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream.  Anywho, imagine my surprise when there were not just one but two things, dry milk powder and whey protein, on the ingredient list!  DOH! We totally failed to read the label.  Shouldn’t granola just contain rolled oats, nuts, seeds, and honey/maple syrup as a sweetening agent?!  Why would dry milk powder and whey protein be incorporated in granola?!  We still can’t figure it out but lesson learned! 


Since then, we started making our own granola and it’s a lot more easy than one imagines.  Throw whatever you like in a bowl, mix, and toss it in the oven.  Thirty minutes later, you have a delicious granola packed with healthy nuts and seeds for breakfast or a snack.  We feel much better knowing that Aiden can enjoy homemade granola without an impending allergic reaction.  We’re sharing our basic granola recipe today that we often eat with yogurt but you can eat it whatever way you prefer.  Enjoy!

Yogurt with homemade granola and blueberries
1/2 cup yogurt
1/4 cup homemade granola (recipe below)
a handful of blueberries
1 tbsp honey (optional)

Just toss everything together and enjoy!

 

Homemade Granola
2 cups of rolled oats
1 cup of sliced almonds
½ cup of sunflower seeds
1 cup of dried cranberries
½ cup of unsweetened coconut threads
⅔ cup of honey
1. Preheat the oven to 300˚F
2. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and toss to combine.  Make sure all the oats are moistened.
3. Spread evenly onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
4. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until golden and dry, making sure to turn the granola every 10 minutes or so to ensure even color and to prevent it from sticking to the pan.
5. Set the granola aside to cool and crisp up.
6. Transfer to an airtight container and store up to a month.