Crunchy, grain free banana granola made with mixed nuts, seeds, natural sweeteners and mashed bananas for easy homemade breakfasts and snacks on the go.
There are a ton of reasons to love this homemade banana granola, but I’ll keep it brief with some of the main points here:
- Grain-free: Unlike more traditional granola recipes that are made with oats, this one relies on a mixture of nuts, seeds and desiccated coconut to create it’s delicious texture and bulk!
- Oats can be a tricky ingredient for anyone needing to avoid gluten because of how easily they are exposed to cross contamination.You can learn more about how to safely consume oats on a gluten free diet in my post:Â Are Oats Gluten Free?
- Nutrient-dense: This granola is made with natural sweeteners, healthy fats, protein and carbs.
- Easy to make: Simply mash, mix and bake – no special equipment needed.
Grain Free Banana Granola Ingredients
- walnuts and cashews – roughly chopped
- unsweetened coconut – desiccated or shredded coconut
- pumpkin seeds (aka pepitas) and sunflower seeds – for extra crunch
- ground cinnamon – adds a bit of warmth
- coconut oil – melted and cooled
- maple syrup – just a touch to balance of the banana flavor
- vanilla extract – a little flavor
- mashed banana – our main sweetener
More Granola Recipes You Might Like:
- Turmeric Stove Top Paleo Granola
- Crunchy Banana Chocolate Granola
- Homemade Pumpkin Spice Granola
- Grain Free Paleo Vegan Granola
Recipe
Grain Free Banana Granola
Yield:
9 servings
Prep Time:
10 minutes
Cook Time:
25 minutes
Total Time:
35 minutes
Crunchy, grain free banana granola made with mixed nuts, seeds, natural sweeteners and mashed bananas for easy homemade breakfasts and snacks on the go.
Ingredients
- 1 cup | 140 grams raw cashews, roughly chopped
- 1 cup | 100 grams raw walnuts, roughly chopped
- 1 cup | 95 grams shredded or desiccated unsweetened coconut
- 1/2 cup | 65 grams pumpkin seeds/pepitas
- 1/2 cup | 70 grams sunflower seeds
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 cup 60 ml coconut oil, melted
- 2 medium bananas, ripened and mashed
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey if you don't need it to be vegan
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Need help converting to weights? Check out my cups to grams Conversion Guide.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper ready for your granola.
- In a large mixing bowl combine your chopped nuts, seeds, desiccated coconut, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl mash the bananas with a fork. Stir in the melted coconut, vanilla extract, and maple syrup.
- Pour the banana-oil mixture over the granola and stir it all together making sure that every bit is coated in the banana mixture.
- Spread the granola out on the lined baking tray in an even layer and bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes. About halfway through remove the pan to gently stir the granola so that it cooks evenly. Once it reaches a golden brown colour, remove and cool before serving.
Notes
one serving is about 1/2 cup
Nutrition Information
Yield: 9
Serving Size:
cup Calories: 388Saturated Fat: 13gSodium: 7mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 4gSugar: 8gProtein: 8gThis website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Cindy says
Can you make it ahead and freeze it?
Sarah says
I’ve never tried freezing this myself but from everything I’ve looked up about freezing granola I *think* you could. If you do try it please let me know how it goes!
Annie says
Hi just made the gronola & was wondering if you storr it in the fridge & how long do recommend it keeps?
Sarah says
Hi Annie! I’m so glad you made this! We keep our granola out on the counter top without any problems for up to two weeks. It will lose a little bit of the crunch as time goes, but usually that’s not an issue because it tends to get eaten before that point. I hope you like it!
Katherines Corner says
Thank you for sharing this wonderful and hjeathy treat at Thursday Favorite Things blog hop; Watch for your feature tomorrowxo
Sarah says
Thanks, Katherine! I’m honored 🙂
Cathy says
I love granola and this looks great!!! Thank you so much for sharing on MMM! I am so glad that you came! 🙂
Cathy
Sarah says
Thanks, Cathy!
Vicky @ Avocdo Pesto says
Just discovering your blog today (from a post in one of the facebook blogging groups I just joined) and am so sorry to hear about what Mike has had to deal with since childhood. My cousin has been having health issues for the last few years – what started as a neglected snowboarding injury led to shoulder surgery and tendonitis in the other should, fast forward to partically being bed ridden and now that has turned in Lyme disease which went undiagnosed for over a year and now is chronic lyme disease. He has had horrible joint pain, brain fog, exhaustion, etc – and I know that acupuncture has helped him a ton. He also feels that hot yoga has really helped him over time as well as ozone therapy (he has even purchased his own ozone machine). He currently is on a paleo diet (so gluten free and dairy free) Though Mike’s condition is obviously different those things could help him too.
On a separate note this recipe looks fabulous!
Sarah says
Hi VIcky!
I’m so sorry to hear about how things kind of just spiraled down for your cousin! Lyme’s disease can be such a tricky thing to deal with – I can image how frustrating that might be for everyone. I’m glad to hear that he’s found a bit of success with acupuncture and hot yoga though! I’d actually like to try hot yoga myself sometimes because it sounds like a lot of fun to me. Isn’t it amazing how big of a role our diet plays into things like that? Mike’s mostly Paleo – he’ll have rice and potatoes on occasion. It’s helped a lot, but not quite as much as we’d hope. I think it’s something that will get better with time though. So many years of eating the wrongs things took their toll in a very big way and we’re just now starting to get to the bottom of it.
I hope things for your cousin improve! Thanks for the feedback – I very much appreciate it!
All that's Jas says
Looks yummy and hearty! Thanks for sharing at Thursday Favorite Things!
Sarah says
Thanks, Jas!
Sarah says
Thank you so much!
Joy @ Joy Love Food says
Yum, this granola looks so good, I wish I had some for breakfast this morning! Thanks for sharing at What’d You Do This Weekend?! (Also, I’ve had acupuncture, it was an excellent experience.)
Sarah says
Aww, thank’s Joy! Glad to hear that your experience with acupuncture was a good one – it’s been so great hearing all the positive feedback about it. I’m looking forward to it now!
Stella @ Stellicious Life says
I LOVE any combination of granola, but so far have never thought of adding banan to it, don’t know why because your recipe sounds amazing! PInned it to make it soon! 🙂
Sarah says
Thanks, Stella! You’ll love it 🙂
Raia says
This looks delicious! I just started eating grain-free (been gluten-free for years) and I’ve been wanting to try a granola. 🙂 I’d love for you to stop by the linky party I host and share it! It goes live tonight at 7pm. 🙂
http://raiasrecipes.com/2015/10/apple-pie-quick-bread.html
Sarah says
Thanks, Raia I’ll make sure to join in on the fun!
Willow says
I love the addition of banana – I would not have thought to add it! It sounds delicious!
Sarah says
Thanks, Willow! Desperate times called for desperate measures and in this case I’m glad to say it paid off 🙂