Easy Homemade Date and Apricot Granola Recipe
Opting to make homemade granola feels a bit like unloading the dishwasher. Let me explain. It’s a task I may not look forward to because I fear it’ll take too long, but in the end I’m so happy with the results.
Unloading the dishwasher can take 5 minutes. I know, because I’ve timed it. Sometimes for my own motivation, and other times to motivate my kids.
Granola may take longer, but the benefits are greater too!
Perspective is Everything
With about 15-20 minutes of prep and some simple baking time, I’m gifted an airtight container full of my own granola. It’s then that I realize I should make this all the time. It’s a perfect start to my day, great for healthy snacks, or I like it in a little tea cup with cold milk for a treat at night.
We don’t buy conventional cereal in our house, unless I’m making these muffins, but we do love granola. A lot of granola, greek yogurt and frozen berries are consumed here! We do purchase granola sometimes, but similar to bars, granola can get pricey. Especially when you’re looking for a granola cluster that isn’t packed with sugar and other ingredients you’d rather not consume. I’m looking at you seed oils!
Granola Mix
When it came to naming this recipe I debated what to use. I was tempted to call it “everything but the kitchen sink” or “clean out your pantry” granola. It is all those things.
I made this granola after getting out all my ingredients that I could potentially use; oats, flax seed, molasses, coconut oil, dates, apricots, raisins, and walnuts. I consulted some recipes and got to cooking, if you can really call making granola that.
Here’s the thing with granola. You can take this recipe and tweak it. You can use honey instead of molasses or canola oil in place of coconut. You can mix up the nuts and not use the same dried fruit I had. You can use brown sugar over coconut sugar.
A Few Tips
There are a few things to know about making granola. You’ll mix your dry ingredients in a large bowl, followed by warming the liquids. Often there are items you’ll leave out of the cooking process and mix in at the end.
I think of these as things I don’t want getting too toasty in the oven, like perhaps pumpkin seeds or sunflower kernels. I’d chop medjool dates and add those in at the end, along with the diced dried apricot.
When the granola comes out of the oven nice and golden brown and is still warm, give it a good stir then stir in the things like chocolate chips if using, dates, apricot, or raisins.
I like to use parchment paper because when everything is cooled to room temperature I can easily transport the granola recipe to an airtight container, and my sheet pan needs minimal cleanup as well!
Batch Cooking!
Granola can be made in batches and it freezes well. Kids can easily help themselves to yogurt and granola and you know they’re getting a healthy snack. We love some local honey on ours, but enjoy it however you like!
If you make enough and have some left you can always use some of this in my back to school granola bars, That is, if it’s not all consumed on its own.
I hope you make this, enjoy, and let me know what you think!
Date and Apricot Granola
Ingredients
- 4 cups of regular oats
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 4 Tablespoons sugar
- 4 T. ground flax meal
- 4 T. chia seeds
- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 3 T peanut butter
- 2 t. vanilla
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup dates chopped
- 1/2 cup apricots chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 and spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
- Mix the oats through salt in a large bowl.
- In a small saucepan melt the coconut oil, molasses and coconut sugar.
- Take off the heat and whisk in the peanut butter and vanilla until combined and then pour this over the oat mixture.
- Pour the ingredients out onto the baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, stirring after 15.
- Place the granola on your stove to cool and stir in the dates, apricots, coconut and pecans.
