This granola has everything I love about carrot cake: warm cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, toasty pecans and walnuts, big flakes of coconut, a little orange zest to brighten it all up, and chewy raisins if you’re into that (I am). Two whole cups of grated carrot bake right into the clusters and get a bit caramelized in the oven, so your kitchen ends up smelling like a bakery on a cold October afternoon.
This granola is not only delicious, it’s also a fibre all-star. Between the oats, oat bran, buckwheat, chia, flax and psyllium, every bowl is working hard to keep your blood sugar steady and your gut happy. And if you want to dial the sweetness down even more, you can cut the maple syrup back without losing that cozy carrot cake vibe.
Carrot Cake Granola
Ingredients
Wet
- ¼ cup / 60ml expeller-pressed coconut oil
Zest of 1 orange
- ½ cup / 125ml pure maple syrup (reduce to 1/3 cup / 80ml for less sugar)
- ⅓ cup / 80ml tahini
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
Dry
- ¾ cup / 100g raisins or dried currants if desired
- 3 cups / 300g rolled oats
- 2 cups / 175g grated carrot
- ½ cup / 50g chopped pecans
- ½ cup / 50g chopped walnuts
- 1 cup / 60g large-flake unsweetened coconut
- ½ cup / 75g oat bran
- ½ cup / 100g buckwheat groats
- 3 Tbsp. chia seeds
- 2 Tbsp. ground flaxseed
- 1 Tbsp. psyllium husk
- 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp. fine sea salt
Directions
- Soak the raisins (if using) in a just enough warm water (from a kettle, not a tap) to cover them, while you prep the other ingredients.
- Melt the coconut oil in a small saucepan over low-medium heat. Add the orange zest and let infuse for a couple of minutes. Stir in the maple syrup, tahini and vanilla, and mix until smooth and glossy.
- Combine all of the dry ingredients, except for the raisins, in a large bowl. Fold to combine.
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients, and mix thoroughly until evenly coated. Drain the soaking raisins (discard the water) and fold into them into the granola mixture.
- Divide the mixture in half and spread out evenly onto two, parchment-lined baking sheets, pressing firmly into a slab (this helps create clumps!). Let sit 10 minutes, as this hydrates the high-fibre ingredients.
- While the granola is hydrating, preheat oven to 300°F / 150°C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes, flip once carefully to maintain the clusters, and bake for another 15 minutes until golden and fragrant.
- Turn the oven off, and leave granola inside for 20–30 minutes, which gently will dry everything out without cooking it anymore (you only need to do this if the granola isn’t fully dry). Cool completely without disturbing, then break into clusters and transfer to a glass container with an airtight lid. Store at room temperature for up to one month. Say thank you and enjoy!
Notes
