It has taken me years to convince my family and friends that I actually get more exited about a luxurious bottle of olive oil than a cashmere sweater. Clothes, shoes, jewelry? Um, can I eat those? No. All I really care about at Christmas are the edibles, and I unapologetically accept all the ridiculously expensive items that I would never buy myself. Oh…you want to give me a kilo of raw wildflower honey? Thanks. Heirloom chia seeds? Organic truffles? My Christmas stocking is now usually full of the most exclusive, decadent food products that keep me motivated to experiment and stay healthy in the kitchen, all year round.
But it’s not all selfish, of course not! My true pleasure during the holidays is giving incredible gifts. I love hearing my friends squeal with delight when they feel the weight of a glass jar, all wrapped in brown craft paper, anticipating the implausible deliciousness inside. I really do make a point of creating all my own gifts, more often than not in my kitchen. I’m not just passing on something delicious, but also planting a little seed of healthy inspiration – that is the best gift that lasts far beyond December.
Although I have posted a granola recipe before (in fact, one that was specific to the holidays, here), this is usually the one I make huge batches of for Christmas and pass it along to just about anyone hosting a party, my boss, in-laws, the postman. It doesn’t look like anything fancy, but trust me, kooky-delicious. Addicting, in fact. You’ve been warned.
The other reason I bake this granola so often is because it’s very customizable. Switch up the basic ingredients or even add to them to make an endless variety of designer cereal. I’ve included some of my favorite combinations.
If you’ve never made homemade granola before, give this foolproof recipe a shot. You will be blown away at how simple it is and how much more delicious it tastes compared to the store bought brands.
So will your friends. And the in laws. And the postman.
Simple Gourmet Granola
Ingredients:
4 cups rolled oats (not instant)
1 cup raw almonds, chopped
1.5 cups flaked coconut
1/4 tsp. finely ground sea salt (1/2 tsp. coarse, pummeled)
1/3 cup liquid honey (or maple syrup, agave)
4 Tbsp. coconut (or sunflower oil, ghee, or butter)
Directions:
1. Preheat over to 350°F.
2. In a small saucepan over low-medium heat, whisk oil and honey together.
3. In a large bowl combine oats, almonds, coconut, and sea salt.
4. Pour oil and honey mixture over dry ingredients and stir very well to coat. Place on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes; remove from oven and stir. Place back in oven but remove and stir every 5 minutes or so until the oats are golden brown (approx. 25-30 minutes).
Optional Additions
Flavours:
vanilla bean
cinnamon
cardamom
orange zest
lemon zest
cocoa powder
Nuts & Seeds:
pecans
cashews
brazil nuts
walnuts
hazelnuts
macadamia nuts
pistachios
pumpkin seeds
sesame seeds
sunflower seeds
poppy seeds
Dried Fruit (add after baking):
dates
figs
cranberries
raisins
cherries
goji berries
mulberries
apricots (unsulphured)
Superfoods (add after baking):
bee pollen
cacao nibs
hemp seeds
flax seeds
chia seeds
Sarah B’s Favorite Combinations
Pecan + Date
Cardamom + Pistachio + Mulberry
Walnut + Fig
Vanilla + Cashew + Cacao Nibs
Pumpkin seed + Cranberry
Hazelnut + Apricot
Goji + Hemp
~ My New Roots Healthy Holiday Gift Guide ~
Here are just a few of my favorite things to give and receive during the holidays. Inspire someone you love and give the gift of healthy inspiration (or cut and paste the lot to your own wish list). I even rounded up the best edible presents from My New Roots, perfect to prepare ahead of time and grab last minute – one can never have too many hostess gifts!
My New Roots Edible Gifts
Holiday Granola or Simple Gourmet Granola
Orange Cranberry Hazelnut Cantuccini
Keep in the fridge until giving:
Luxury Edibles
Need a gift for the healthy gourmet foodie in your life? Needing ideas on what to wish for yourself this year? Look no further than this indulgent pantry list!
saffron
vanilla beans
raw cacao
spirulina
chlorella
smoked sea salt
wild rice
dried shiitake mushrooms
raw nut
or seed butters (cashew, almond, hemp, pumpkin)
macadamia nuts
raw organic honey
pomegranate molasses
high quality balsamic vinegar
truffle oil
hemp seed oil
high-quality olive oil
organic Medjool dates
goji berries
acai powder
matcha green tea
Kitchen Equipment
Here is a very short list of things I use in my kitchen almost daily. Some are major investments, while others you can find inexpensively. In my opinion, a healthy kitchen functions best with the following items:
Vita-mix blender
food processor
ceramic knife
mortar and pestle
microplane zester / grater
wooden spoons
wooden cutting boards
nut milk bags
glass food containers
glass tea accessories
Best Healthy Cookbooks
1. Earthly and Divine: Whole Recipes for a Healthy World
Eva Cabaca
2. Enlightened Eating: Nourishment for Body and Soul
Caroline Dupont
3. Nourishing Traditions
Sally Falon
4. Supernatural Cooking
Heidi Swanson
5. Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
Deborah Madison
6. The Savory Way
Deborah Madison
7. How to Cook Everything Vegetarian
Mark Bittman
8. Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods
Sandor Ellix Katz
9. Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning
The Gardeners and Farmers of Terra Viviante
10. The Sacred Kitchen: Higher Consciousness Cooking for Health and Wholeness
Robin Robertson and Jon Robertson
Lastly, I want to send out a huge thank you for all the recipes that you’ve been submitting! I am blown away with the creativity and enthusiasm you have for healthy holiday foods, and as a result I have a very tough job ahead of me. Wanna come for dinner?
Delicious, as with all your recipes I cant wait to try this!
Sarah can I ask if we wanted to activate the nuts/grains, how would this recipe go? Would you recommend just soaking them all and then baking them for longer at a low heat?
Great recipe. Im going to try a date and pecan version as you recommended. Can I ask two questions! 1) is it best to use fresh dates or dried, 2) do you replace the almonds for pecans or use both
Thanks so much
I just want to thank you for this recipe. I make this recipe with the addition of one tablespoon turmeric. Turmeric and honey are wonderful together and give te granola a nice golden colour. Big thanks!
Has anyone tried this will steel cut oats instead of rolled? If so, how was it and how did you modify the recipe?
Best wishes to the Omani team and people. Let this be the beginning of more achievements for Oman.
High potential for this granola – but mine burnt after only 25 min! Think this means the 10 min is definitely including in the 25-30 min. Next time I’ll probably take out after 15-20 min and watch more carefully.
Can you please offer any guidance on the amounts you use for add-ins, especially the spices?
I just stumbled onto this blog. LOVE IT! I started juicing and this will fit in nicely with juicing. I can’t wait to try some of the recipes.
I am in awe of your site, you could knock me over with a feather, the photos, the recipes, the Love you have for sharing and making these wonderful, eye appealing, palate pleasing, and such a wonderful way of expressing them. Love Love Love it, my first time on your site, so I can not wait to try these recipes and get my cooking on…..Sending Hugs your way with Gratitude………Penny
hi sarah!
what is the best way to store the granola? and how long will it keep for?
thanks!
jenn 🙂
Also, is the 25 minutes in the oven total time, or in addition to the 10 min at the beginning?
I’m looking forward to trying this, but wondered if you could offer any guidance on the amounts you use for add-ins, especially the spices?
Hi Sarah!
I was just wondering if you thought quinoa flakes would be a good substitute for the rolled oats in this recipe? My boyfriend is allergic to gluten and finds it hard to digest (even certified gluten-free) oats. I have loved making some of your recipes before and I know my boyfriend would really love this one!
Thank so much! 🙂
Thanks for a gorgeous recipe Sarah, this is sure to keep me fueled up for my long journey and for lazy mornings 🙂
x x x
http://lalangostaymi.blogspot.com.es/2013/03/gourmet-granola.html
Hi Sarah! I really really enjoy your blog. Thank you always!
Do you have any nutritional comment on rice bran? In my idea, it is a really good thing. Since many health conscious Japanese people own rice polisher (to remove bran – but you can choose to remove percentage of removal so that you don’t get rid of all the good stuff), I often end up with lots of rice bran.
One of my favorite macrobiotic cookbooks has rice bran based granola, and I tweaked the recipe quite a bit to make it vegan and gluten free, and it is super yum! I thought as long as you can get fresh rice bran, it will be fun to add to your yummy looking recipe.
Come to San Francisco to do your cooking class someday!
Hi Sarah,
Massive fan of your work here… Thank you for this recipe, amongst many others…
Simple Gourmet Granola has been a staple in my home for over 6 months now, my favourite additional combinations are chia seeds, dates, walnuts, brazils, goji berries and pecans.
I gave glass jars to my family at christmas, and have been refilling ever since. It’s a firm favourite…
Thanks again,
Rachel
Just saw this website on Put an Egg on It. I positively love the granola recipes. I have to keep mine tree-nut free, so I especially appreciated your lists of potential add-ins.
It really does look scrumptious.
thanks for sharing.
Sarah, thanks for this awesome recipe. I got my hands on the big coconut flakes and have been making many delicious batches. I posted about it today on my blog, pics are here in case anyone is interested! http://www.two-tarts.com/2012/01/homemade-coconut-almond-granola.html
Hi!!!
Just made the holiday granola. The toasted oats are so good they really don’t need anything else.
Thanks!!!
Thank you so much Sarah! 🙂
Hi Natalie!
Try warming a combination of nut butter and brown rice syrup, pour over granola, mix, and set into a baking pan to harden. Voila!
All the best,
Sarah B
Is there a way to turn this into a bar? Like adding more coconut oil and honey afterward? This would be helpful as a kids’ snack.
Hi Anon!
It’s a FIG 🙂
Glad you love the recipes – thank you!
xo, Sarah B
Hey Sarah!
I was just wondering, what is that watermelon/strawberry looking fruit in the picture? I love your recipes!
Anon.
Hi Anon – if you make the granola with a vegetarian oil (so anything except butter, ghee would be fine), the mix will keep for a month in a sealed glass jar. If you make with butter, just keep in the fridge.
Happy baking!
Sarah B
Hi there, I have just stumbled across your blog and love it! Can I just ask you two questions about this recipe:
a) How long do you think the mixture will keep in an air-tight container?
b) What do you eat it with? Milk? Joghurt? Sorry, if this sounds naive but I’m awfully inexperienced when it comes to granola…
Thanks, Bee
you are so right about the gifts:-)I feel exactly the same way about what I would like to receive and what I love give…this year I have started doing my own herbal-tea-mixes; I give them also away as presie and I have fun decorating the jars with glass pens too!
thanks for the healty-positive energy+thoughts+ideas! warm hug:-)
Tried this today and it is a-m-a-z-i-n-g! Thank you. Kids also loved it.
Hi Sarah,
Thank you so much for this granola recipe. Can you please tell me how long it lasts? I think I am going to make this granola as gifts and want to let the gift recipients know how long it can keep.
Thanks again,
Shamima
Hey Yolanda!
Totally gorgeous! So glad you like the recipe 🙂 And I love your tweaks.
All the best,
Sarah B
(I couldn’t comment on your site)
http://yolandarogers.blogspot.com/2011/12/december-deliciousness-1272011.html
Hi Yolanda!
Of course I don’t mind if you post this on your site – that’s the whole point! That people share the good stuff 🙂
You, your journey, and your site are an inspiration to us all! Keep up the amazing work.
Peace and bless,
Sarah B
I love the vanilla, cacao nib, cashew granola blend — it might even induce me to stir up some granola. Holidays can be tough on food bloggers: I posted a friend’s recipe for caramels today, but I ate kale salad for dinner and will be posting that next week.
m-mm.. I too dream of foodielicious Christmas gifts! Finally I have gotten my sister to understand my crave.. Last year I got an amazing walnut oil from her (oh, and that one was from Denmark:)
This morning I saw your latest posting as I am a follower of your blog. I am very health conscience as well as an athlete. I immediately made this and allowed it to cool while I ran 5.5 miles in 28 degrees. This was a great post-fuel food for me when I returned.
I have made a couple of other recipes that I have found on-line but yours is the best by far!!!
Thank you for sharing with us!
Yolanda
Ps: if I reference back to your blog do you mind if I share this as well on my own blog?
Gorgeous! I love the pop of color from the figs.
I make a cardamom and pistachio granola, but I’ve never tried adding mulberries. Thanks for the suggestion. I’m also intrigued by the goji and hemp combo.
Homemade gifts are indeed the best. Giving granola in a jar is a great idea.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lovely lists! Thanks for all the great book ideas too – the preserving book is a new one to me. Happy Holidays.
Thanks SO much for these ideas! My Christmas presents are bought for the season, but this would be great for birthdays and other occasions all year round too…I’ll be coming back to this post.
Hi Sarah – no real favorite brand. In Denmark I buy it in bulk from our organic restaurant supplier.
Look for it in the bulk bin at your local health food store!
xo, Sarah B
Hi Sarah – no real favorite brand. In Denmark I buy it in bulk from our organic restaurant supplier.
Look for it in the bulk bin at your local health food store!
xo, Sarah B
Hi Alessia – if you make the granola with a vegetarian oil (so anything except butter, ghee would be fine), the mix will keep for a month in a sealed glass jar. If you make with butter, just keep in the fridge.
Happy baking!
Sarah B
I was planning to make granola already tonight so I was so happy you posted this! I’m using coconut oil for the first time… it’s smelling great in the oven right now!
I want all this for Christmas! I’m going to make this granola with raspberry jam instead of honey, plus apricots, almonds, and cacao nibs!! Thanks for the inspiration!
I love this gift guide!
I also created a healthy gift guide on Food Babe – Check it out – http://foodbabe.com/2011/11/28/holiday-gift-guide/
Anything food or kitchen related is awesome and preferred under my tree on Christmas Morning 🙂 Thanks for Sharing – I LOVE the granola. I have no self control when it comes to nuts and oats…
This looks absolutely scrumptious! Yum.
This granola looks very tasty! i love that you put toasted coconut in the mixture, i’m sure it added such great flavor. Granola and yogurt is probably one of my favorite combinations.
Thanks for sharing this gift guide! I’m the only foodie on my shopping list, but I think I’ll forward your guide to everyone in my family 🙂
Hi Sarah
first of all I’d like to thank you for your recipes and inspiring ideas. Your blog is n.1 in my list and I am always eager to read your new exciting posts 😉
I really want to try to make my granola this time but I’d like to know how long it would last in a jug container like the ones you show in this post..thank you again and again. You are precious
I love those big flakes of coconut! Do you have a preferred source for them?