Oil-Free Oat and Almond Granola
Boxed granola is mostly oats held together with oil and sugar, which is why a bowl of it carries so many calories for so little food. This one clusters with neither. A paste of blended dates and ripe banana does all the binding, sticky enough to clump the oats, almonds, and seeds and to set hard as the granola cools; ground flaxseed helps it lock into crunchy sheets. The trick is to press the mixture into a slab and resist stirring it, so it bakes into real chunks rather than loose crumbs, and to keep the oven low, since fruit sugars burn where oil would not. It is about as cheap as breakfast gets, and it keeps for weeks.
Ingredients
- 3 cups Rolled oats
- 1/2 cup Almonds, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup Sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup Pumpkin seeds
- 2 tbsp Ground flaxseed
- 6 wholes Medjool dates, pitted
- 1 whole Bananas, very ripe
- 1 tsp cassia cinnamon, ground
- 1/2 cup Raisins
Method
- Heat the oven to 300 F (150 C). Blend the pitted dates, banana, cinnamon, and 0.33 cup (80 ml) hot water into a thick, smooth paste. This paste is the binder: the sticky date sugar and the mashed banana do the clumping and gluing that oil and refined sugar do in ordinary granola.
- In a big bowl, combine the oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and ground flaxseed. Pour the date paste over and fold until every flake is coated and the mixture holds together in loose clumps when you press it.
- Spread it on a lined tray and press it down into a firm, even slab about half an inch thick. Pressing is what builds clusters: a packed layer bakes into sheets you can break into chunks, where a loose scatter just bakes into dust.
- Bake for 20 minutes without touching it, then turn the tray and break the slab into large pieces with a spatula. Bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until deep gold and dry to the touch. Do not stir it to crumbs, and watch the last few minutes, since date and banana sugars scorch fast once they are dry.
- Cool the granola completely on the tray without disturbing it. It is soft and bendy coming out of the oven and crisps only as it cools, the flax and set date syrup hardening the clusters. Once cold, fold in the raisins and store in a jar for two weeks.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 220 calories, 6 g protein, 5 g fiber, 5 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
