Grain-Free Granola
Some hosts get a bottle of wine. Ours get granola.
When we headed up to Pinetop to see our dear friend Tom, I didn’t show up empty-handed — I brought a bag of this grain-free granola, still warm enough to fog up the ziplock, tucked in next to the banana bread and blueberry muffins like I'm running some kind of underground bakery. It travels well, it makes the whole car smell like cinnamon, and it's gone before anyone's finished their first cup of coffee.
This one's grain-free — just almonds, pecans, coconut, and a few seeds, lightly sweetened and baked low and slow until it clumps in all the right places. No oats required, and exactly zero people have asked where they went.
It's become my go-to host gift, my own breakfast on repeat, and the thing I quietly double whenever we're headed anywhere for a weekend — because sharing something homemade is the best gift of all.
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Grain-Free Granola
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Grain-Free Granola →
Why You'll Love This
Ready in about 40 minutes, most of which is the oven doing the work
One bowl, one baking sheet — minimal cleanup, maximum "I have my life together" energy
Travels beautifully, which is how it became my go-to "I brought a little something" move
Keeps for weeks, so a double batch is really just future you thanking past you
Ingredients
1 cup unsweetened coconut slices (the long fat ones, not the shredded kind)
1 cup sliced raw almonds (the thick ones)
1 cup whole almonds - rough chopped
2 cups raw pecans- rough chopped
1 teaspoon sugar or monk fruit sweetener
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
How to Make It
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
In a large bowl, combine the coconut slices, almonds, pecans, sugar or monk fruit, cinnamon, and sea salt.
Warm the coconut oil and maple syrup in microwave until melted and combined. Add vanilla.
Pour the warm mixture over the dry ingredients and stir well until evenly coated.
Spread the granola evenly onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Pat down with back of spatula.
Bake for 25 minutes.
Allow the granola to cool completely before storing.
Pro Tips
Don't wander off in the last five minutes. Granola goes from perfectly golden to regrettably burnt, (and another trip to Sprouts) faster than you think.
The granola clumps up as it cools, so resist stirring until it's completely cool.
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator to keep it clumpy.
Stir in dried fruit after baking if you want a little extra sweetness and chew.
What to Serve It With
Spoon it over yogurt for an easy parfait, or pack it up as a host gift the way I brought it to Tom's place in Pinetop — see the full Escape the Heat: Pinetop post for that trip.
For gifting or storing, a good airtight container goes a long way.
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