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Grain Free Granola (Easy, Vegan, Paleo)

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If you’ve never tried making granola without oats, you’re in for a treat with this naturally sweetened grain free granola! It’s the perfect paleo and vegan breakfast.

This post is sponsored by Klarbrunn.

Grain-Free Granola

That lightbulb moment when you realize you don’t need oatmeal to make granola! I’m absolutely in love with this homemade Grain-Free Granola recipe. It’s basically like having every bite of granola be the most delicious bite.

The key is to use slivered almonds. They bind together and hold their clusters SO well. Honestly, if you want to make this recipe more affordable (by only having to buy one nut), you could just use slivered almonds and skip the other nuts. The almond clusters are just too good!

The one major key to making this recipe a success is to really press the granola down on the baking sheet before you bake it. That’s what helps it stick together and make those awesome clusters we all love. I use the back of a spatula to do this, but even the back of a fork would work!

If you’re more of a granola bar person than a granola cereal person, you could definitely break this into really large chunks. They won’t be shaped like a traditional granola bar, but it would be a similar experience with minimal work.

Four granola parfaits in small clear glass cups.

I’m so happy to be partnering with Klarbrunn to bring you this delicious grain free breakfast recipe. When I think of breakfast, I always think of berries and stone fruits. So, I love having this granola as a yogurt parfait with some French vanilla yogurt, a little fresh fruit, and a can of Klarbrunn’s Black Cherry Sparkling Water – it makes the most incredible flavor combo! You can find out where to buy Klarbrunn’s sparkling water here.

A grain free parfait and a banana.

Optional Add-Ins and Flavors

In addition to slivered almonds, walnuts, pecans, chia seeds, coconut flakes, flaxseed, sea salt, coconut oil, maple syrup, and pumpkin seeds, there are a few other ingredients and flavors that would be wonderful in this recipe!

A process image showing the ingredients for grain free granola in a white platter.

These are the ones I think would be best to try:

  • Tahini
  • Vanilla
  • Hemp Hearts
  • Honey
  • Puffed Quinoa (Added in After Baking)
  • Poppy Seeds
  • Dates

Paleo Granola

Since this recipe is grain free and uses maple syrup as a natural sweetener, it’s already paleo! 

As long as you use unsweetened coconut flakes and unsweetened dried fruit, this recipe is paleo friendly – the sweetened versions tend to be boiled in sugar and water, so it’s important to use the unsweetened versions.

A process collage showing what the granola looks like before baking, after baking, and after breaking it into pieces.

How to Make this Recipe Vegan

This recipe uses maple syrup as the sweetener, so it’s already plant-based and dairy-free as it is written and doesn’t need any adaptations.

If you like this recipe, you may also love my vegan oil-free granola recipe!

Is Granola Gluten Free

Typically, the ingredients of granola are theoretically gluten free. However, since granola is normally made with oats and oats are frequently cross-contaminated with gluten, granola is only truly gluten free if it has been tested and certified.

This recipe does not use oats, so it is naturally gluten free and doesn’t need any modifications.

A side image of three granola parfaits.

How to Make this Recipe Keto or Low Carb

While this recipe is naturally lower carb than traditional granola, it still has a notable amount of carbs from the dried fruit and maple syrup.

To make keto granola, you’d need to replace the maple syrup with a keto brand of maple syrup, or with a homemade keto simple syrup using a low carb sweetener (like stevia).

Two grain free granola yogurt parfaits.

What You’ll Need

You only need three tools to make this recipe.

The first tool is a large mixing bowl (an extra-large mixing bowl is even better). Having room to toss the granola and coat it with the coconut oil and maple syrup makes such a difference.

Second, you need a good quality baking sheet. This is definitely not the right recipe to use a thin baking sheet that’s prone to warping. Those thin baking sheets cook the bottom of the food much faster than the top cooks, so it’s really easy to end up with burned food. That’s not a great combo with a recipe that can be prone to burning in the final minutes, so I wholeheartedly recommend a quality baking sheet for this recipe.

Third, you’ll need either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. I prefer parchment paper for this recipe because it’s a little more forgiving with the timing of the baking. However, if you really love super crunchy granola, the silicone baking mat is the right choice for you.

Yield: 8 servings

Grain Free Granola (Easy, Paleo, Vegan, Gluten Free)

An overhead image of grain free granola in a pink bowl.

If you've never tried making granola without oats, you're in for a treat with this naturally sweetened grain free granola! It's the perfect paleo and vegan breakfast.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • ¾ cup slivered almonds
  • ¾ cup pecans
  • ½ cup walnuts
  • 1 Tablespoon chia seeds
  • ½ Tablespoon ground flaxseed
  • Pinch fine sea salt
  • 2 Tablespoons coconut oil
  • 3 Tablespoons maple syrup
  • ¼ cup dried fruit of choice
  • ¼ cup pumpkin seeds

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 F with the rack in the center of the oven.
  2. In a large bowl, mix the coconut flakes, slivered almonds, pecans, walnuts, chia seeds, ground flaxseed, and sea salt together.
  3. In a small skillet, melt the coconut oil over low heat. Add in the maple syrup and stir to combine.
  4. Add the maple syrup and coconut oil mixture to the nut mixture and toss to coat evenly.
  5. On a parchment paper or silicone mat lined baking sheet, spread the granola mixture out evenly. Using the back of a spatula, press the granola down firmly (this helps ensure large crunchy clusters).
  6. Bake for 25 minutes and then let cool completely. Break into large clusters and stir in dried fruit and pumpkin seeds.

Notes

Pay attention to the granola during the last 5 minutes of baking. Depending on how hot your oven runs, it may bake a little faster and granola tends to burn quickly.

Store in an airtight container.

If you use a silicone baking mat, the granola will be crunchier, but it will also burn more quickly. Pay extra attention to it at the end of baking if using a silicone baking mat.

To make your clusters extra crunchy and a bit larger, you could add a couple of Tablespoons granulated sugar into the nut mixture, too.

I prefer not to bake the pumpkin seeds and dried fruit, but if you’d like them baked take the granola out after 20 minutes and mix them into the granola (being sure to leave large clusters in the granola). Bake for an additional 5 minutes or until done. The fruit will burn if you add it in the beginning, so it’s important to wait.

If you want to add chocolate chips to this granola, there are two options. If you want the chocolate chips to melt and create chocolate coated clusters, mix them in as soon as the granola comes out of the oven. If you want the chocolate chips to remain whole, wait until the granola has cooled completely to add them in.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1/8

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 288Total Fat: 24.4gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 36.6mgCarbohydrates: 14.9gNet Carbohydrates: 11gFiber: 3.9gSugar: 8.6gProtein: 6.2g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate. This recipe can be used with any dried fruit, but raisins were used for estimating nutrition information.

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?

Tag @KeyToMyLime on Instagram so we can see your delicious meal!

If you try this recipe, please let me know what you thought in the comments or on Instagram! @KeyToMyLime #KeyToMyLime

Be sure to pin this recipe for later!

A Pinterest pin image with two images of grain free granola separated by title text.

The next time you’re looking for an amazing paleo breakfast, try making this grain free granola!

An overhead image of grain free granola in a pink bowl.

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