This tasty coconut cashew granola recipe combines crunchy oats with the nutty, creamy flavour of toasted coconut to create a perfect symphony of taste and texture in your cereal bowl. It’s made without honey to be vegan friendly, and includes the option to use coconut sugar or brown sugar, depending on your taste preferences and what you have available.
This is a great everyday recipe for your breakfast or a snack. Enjoy it with fresh fruit and milk or yogurt.
We love it with almond milk – the nuttiness of the milk is the perfect compliment.
And while I usually serve it with berries, don’t be afraid to experiment. Serving it with tropical fruits, in particular, may have you dreaming of a white sand beach somewhere.
This recipe is also an awesome and easy homemade gift, perfect for Christmas or for a new parent friend who is just getting the hang of being a mom or dad.
And super easy for you to make!
Important Ingredients Notes
This recipe calls for dried oats. Always use old-fashioned rolled oats, not quick cut oats or steel cut oats.
And because you’ll be toasting this granola yourself, you want to start with untoasted / raw ingredients.
Use raw cashews and un-toasted coconut. Otherwise, they’ll overcook when you pop them in your oven, and will take on a bitter taste during baking. Not what we’re going for!
Why Coconut Sugar?
This homemade granola has a nice level of sweetness, achieved from either coconut sugar or brown sugar.
If you’ve never worked with coconut sugar before, you might be surprised to learn that it tastes nothing like coconut. In actual fact, it tastes a lot like brown sugar, making it a common substitute.
Texture wise, coconut sugar is softer, and doesn’t have the same moistness or stickiness brown sugar has.
Health wise, coconut sugar has one benefit that brown sugar doesn’t: it contains the dietary fiber inulin.
The downside of coconut sugar is it’s more expensive than brown sugar, and less widely available.
While I use coconut sugar when I have it, I wanted to give you an option in case you don’t have any on hand.
If you don’t have any coconut sugar in your pantry but still want to try out this recipe, give it a go with brown sugar like in the photo below!
Tips for Making our Crunchy Coconut Cashew Granola
This recipe is honestly pretty hard to muck up, which is one of the things I love about it! However, I do have a few tips that I think will ensure this recipe is the best it can be.
I recommend chopping the cashews into large pieces – thirds or halves works well.
The large size gives the perfect amount of surface area to coat and toast and leaves a great crunch in the final product.
Combine all the dry ingredients first, and give them a good toss to mix them and distribute everything before adding wet ingredients (see full recipe below!).
Once the dry ingredients are well mixed, add the water first and distribute it. Then, once the water is evenly distributed, add the olive oil. Toss again!
You want all the ingredients to look evenly moist for the best results.
Dump out the moist granola onto a baking sheet that you’ve prepared with parchment paper. I like to use aluminum baking sheets to avoid the nasty chemicals of non-stick cookware.
Flatten the mixture into an even layer, but don’t press down firmly. This is really important – you want to leave some space and air as much as possible.
After about 25 minutes of baking, you’ll need to stir the granola to redistribute it on the baking sheet.
Toss it around a bit so parts that aren’t browning get some surface area, and vice versa.
Then throw it back in the oven for another 30 to 40 minutes, checking and stirring it a few times until you’ve achieved a gorgeous dark golden brown.
Once cooled, this granola will stay fresh in an airtight container for up to 1 month.
If you think it’s going “soft” from storage, you can actually re-crisp it by throwing it back in the oven on low for 20 to 30 minutes.
Crunchy Cashew and Coconut Granola Recipe
Coconut Cashew Granola
Tasty homemade granola made without honey to be vegan friendly. Recipe includes option between coconut sugar or brown sugar. Great for easy homemade gifts or just eating with fresh fruit and milk or yogurt.
Ingredients
- 4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp coconut sugar (OR 3/8 cup brown sugar)
- 1 cup flaked untoasted coconut
- 1 ½ cup raw cashews
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 275° F/135 C. Line a large baking tray with baking parchment.
- Chop cashews to large pieces (thirds to halves of cashew size).
- Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Toss to distribute.
- Add water and toss until even distributed. Add olive oil and toss until even distributed and all ingredients look slightly moist.
- Dump granola onto prepared baking tray and flatten into an even layer. Do not press down firmly, leave air space as much as possible.
- Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, then stir to redistribute. Bake for a further 30-40 minutes, stirring 2-3 times until granola is a dark golden brown.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container for up to 1 month. If granola does not seem crisp at any point, it can be refreshed by baking in a low temperature oven for 20-30 minutes.
Notes
Use old-fashioned rolled oats, not quick cook or steel cut.
Always use raw cashews and untoasted coconut or they will over cook and become bitter during the baking process.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
20Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 185Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 44mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 4g
Nutrition information is estimated by a third-party plugin, and isn't always accurate. If you're on a special diet and require accurate nutritional information, talk to your doctor or a registered dietician.
