I love paleo granola! This healthy grain-free breakfast “cereal” is made of just 7 ingredients –almonds, macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds, raisins, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Purely fruit sweetened and crunchy, it’s a great paleo breakfast recipe!
I get a kick out of using the term “granola” to ridicule folks here in Boulder. However, when I’m feeling earthy, dousing myself in patchouli (which my husband dislikes to no end) I can easily apply the term to myself. Though I’m more a yuppie than a hippie. I guess that would make me a yippie.
Alas, I digress. I created this recipe for a crunchy live gluten-free granola back in 2002. And even though he’s not a hippie, yippie or yuppie, my husband loves it, and so does my younger son. The little guy eats this healthy homemade granola with whole milk yogurt, which makes for a tasty and filling snack.
Paleo Granola
Ingredients
- 2 cups almonds
- 1 cup macadamia nuts
- 1 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
Instructions
- Place nuts and seeds in a large bowl, cover with water and soak overnight
- Place raisins in a separate bowl, cover with 1 cup water and soak overnight
- Place raisins, along with their soaking water in a food processor and puree until smooth
- In a strainer, drain and rinse nuts and seeds and discard soaking water
- Add nuts and seeds to raisin puree in food processor and pulse until consistency of granola
- Briefly pulse in vanilla, cinnamon, and salt to incorporate
- Transfer mixture onto two large baking sheets
- To make live granola, place in oven on the lowest setting (usually 135°F) for 24 hours
- For instant gratification, bake 45 minutes in oven at 250°F
- Top with shredded coconut or dried fruit if desired
- Serve
Equipment
Enjoy this paleo granola recipe with fresh fruit and plain yogurt. Or as I do, simply by the handful. Paleo Granola is also fantastic with my homemade Almond Milk. If you have egg allergies, this is the perfect egg-free breakfast, and you’ll also want to take a look at my Egg-Free Recipes page!
Here are some of my other healthy paleo breakfast recipes:
Podiatrist in Charlevoix says
Oh. my. goodness. I have missed granola so much since giving up gluten and grains. I can’t wait to go home and make this and eat the entire batch.
Wendy says
This is one of the few online recipes I have made (and loved!) as written, with no adjustments! My whole family enjoyed it so much that I started a second batch before the first was all gone. In fact, my mother just visited for the first time since we went grain-free, and she was really impressed. She liked this granola better than my regular oat based granola that she used to rave about. Thank you so much for sharing!!
cathy hastings says
Hi elana I absolutely love your website! Question… If we are killing most of the enzymes @ 135 and all of them @250 is the soaking of the nuts really necessary? Just wondering. Thanks for all your “deliciousness”!
Pam says
Does the granola have to be “dry” when you take it out of the oven?? Mine’s been in for almost an hour and it’s still pretty wet…
~M says
I used to have this problem of wet granola, but implementing some of these changes helped a lot and now we love our granola! If the granola is still wet after the recipe’s baking time, I recommend letting it bake for maybe 10-15 minutes longer. Then, shut off the oven, and keep the door closed with the granola inside. By the next day, it should have dried out considerably. (In my incredibly arid apartment, I might be able to leave the granola on the baking sheet on the kitchen island with the same effect).
If you hydrated your raisins with 1 cup of water, next time I suggest using only 1/2 cup of water. Since I’ve been using only 1/2 cup of water, my batches come out much better, though I still dehydrate them further by leaving them in the closed oven overnight. Another option is to soak your nuts for a bit less time; I used to soak for 24 hours or so, but now for around 12 hours.
I do *not* recommend raising the temperature beyond 250ºF or your nuts will burn.
Good luck!
heather says
just the comment i was looking for …THANKS!!! i tried 3 of the recipes last night and finished this morning.. granola.. cran powerbars and the cranberry loaf..AMAZING!!!!! just trying to get the granola to not be so moist.
Onelasttime says
This is a GREAT recipe.
I have made three variations:
* as posted
* using dried cranberries instead of raisins
* using dried mango and cashews (macadamia nuts seem to be lacking from the four stores I tried)
They are all so nice. Thank you!
~M says
I have a huge craving for your granola right now! I am so bored with the un-fortified gf cereals that I’ve taken to eating homemade chicken soup for breakfast!
Another great breakfast: pancakes with coconut flour! They are so fluffy and filling! I used the recipe on the back of the Bob’s Red Mill package with some tweaking, and hemp milk + apple cider in lieu of buttermilk. I’ve made them 2x, and they win rave reviews by my mom, fiance, and even picky younger brother. I’m willing to bet you could make them Elana-friendly by using your Honeyville blanched almond flour instead of the recommended white rice flour and baking soda instead of the baking powder (perhaps adding more acid in the form of apple cider vinegar) and using arrowroot for the cornstarch.
Anyways, are you using raw or roasted almonds here in your granola recipe? Also, are they whole almonds, slivered, or sliced? I think I actually have each of the above types described. :) Take care!
Jessica says
Hi Elana – How do you store your granola (and power bars)? How long do they keep? We’re heading out on a 2 week road trip with our 2 year old and I’m looking for easy to store snacks. We’ll have a cooler with us. Thanks!
elana says
Hi ~M -Thanks for your comment. The raisin paste does not leave the food processor. I added a couple of words to the recipe above to make this more clear as the way I had it written didn’t quite do the job.
Love the crockpot idea for this recipe. Not sure how it would work since I haven’t ever tried it this way. If you do it, please stop back by and let us know the results. The one issue I could see is that the granola would not crisp if it is not laid out on a flat baking sheet, evenly exposed to the heat. However, still might be worth a try in the crockpot. xo Elana
~M says
Yeah, you’re right that the oven works much better, though I did eat the crockpot version. This is fabulous with coconut milk…maybe one day you’ll make coconut milk from scratch too.
I also sometimes add black sesame seeds as part of the nuts/seeds…they taste great (but check your teeth! :) )
~M says
Thanks for the great recipe, Elana!
Also, I wonder if you couldn’t “bake” this in a crockpot on low (I think this is usually about 200ºF), possibly with a chopstick or wooden spoon to let the steam out, for slightly less than 24 hours. It would use much less electricity, allow you to leave the house, and not heat up the entire kitchen in the summertime. These are the reasons why I use my crockpot to poach chicken breasts for salads (without propping, for 3 hours on high).
As always, take care!
~M
Jessica says
I just made this recipe, it is yummy! I was under the impression that for something to be considered a “raw” or “living” food it can not be heated higher than 110-120 degrees? So this is technically not a “raw” food? Is that right?