Apple Spice Granola (with Dates and Walnuts)
A low-sugar granola base of oats, pumpkin seeds and coconut flakes is toasted with olive oil and comes alive with apple and spice flavors from chewy dried apples, crunchy apple chips, spices, walnuts and dates. Go all in, top it with fresh apple, and eat it straight up with the milk of your choice. Slurp!
Servings: 12 1/2c servings
Calories: 323kcal
Equipment
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 baking sheet
- 1 parchment baking sheets makes clean up and storing easier
Ingredients
- 3 cups rolled oats NOT quick cooking
- 1 cup coconut flakes, broken up a bit large and unsweetened, not the bags of sweetened and shredded
- 1 cup raw walnuts, roughly chopped
- 6 oz dried apple rings, chopped (about 2 cups) non-sweetened- should be just dried apples
- 3 oz apple chips, broken up a bit see notes
- 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
- 8 chopped dates see notes
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp apple spice blend usually includes cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise, allspice, ginger and cloves.
Trio of ingredients heated to dissolve brown sugar
- 2 tbsp honey can sub maple syrup
- 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300.
- Toss the oats, broken up coconut flakes, seeds, and chopped walnuts together in a large bowl.
- Heat the trio of maple syrup/brown sugar and olive oil in a small pot over medium-low heat, whisk until sugar is dissolved then remove from heat immediately.
- Drizzle the melted trio over the mixture and use a silicone spatula to toss until evenly distributed.
- Once the wet mixture is very thoroughly distributed, sprinkle over the spices and salt and toss some more to distribute the dry spices.
- Pour mixture onto a parchment-covered sheet pan (with sides) and bake for approximately 30 min, or until the granola looks golden, but not too brown. (check and toss at about 20 minutes). SEE NOTES
- Once the granola is fully cooled, toss in the chopped dried apple, broken up apple chips and chopped dates.
- A good way to move the granola into a jar for storage is to lift the parchment paper in such a way that you can pour the granola right into the jar.
Notes
Apple chips: usually sold near other chips, but readily available on Amazon. Use one bag (2.2-3.4 oz depending on brand). I use two brands: Bare-this brand is just dehydrated apples. Seneca-this brand has some oil and sweetener but it isn't much based on what small amount you get in your serving of granola.
Dates: first choice is medjool dates, second choice is deglet dates (a bit drier, less flavorful).
Nuts/Seeds: be sure to use RAW seeds/nuts since they will toast in the oven.
Baking: if you like clumpy granola, keep it closer together on the pan, pressing down on it. 20 minutes into cooking, open oven to toss it a bit (so as to evenly brown it), but press down again and keep granola close versus spread out. This allows for more steaming and the granola will tend to clump. Once you remove from oven, leave it completely alone until it is totally cool, then you can break up the clumps a bit to toss in the dried fruit.
Nutritional info: does not include the apple chips. Also, see olive oil granola recipe for added sugar, what is displayed here is mostly from fruit sugar, not added sugar, which also adds fiber and potassium.
Nutrition
Serving: 58g | Calories: 323kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Sodium: 114mg | Potassium: 357mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 2mg | Magnesium: 75mg | Net Carbohydrates: 35g