Delicious Low Fat Granola Recipe

Here's a fabulous low fat granola recipe with juicy dried cherries and crunchy oats and almonds. This is a particularly tasty combination but you can substitute other nuts and fruit if you like.

Hazelnuts, walnuts and pecans are other nuts I love in granola. Good fruit choices include chopped dried apricots or dates.

The Low Fat Twist

It's surprisingly easy to cut the fat in your granola. Here are a few tips that help to make this recipe a winner.

Tips To Make A Great Low Fat Granola Recipe

• Use Water. Replace some of the oil with water. This works really well. Try it and you'll wonder why so many granola recipes are packed with oil.
• Get Nut Smart. Yes, nuts are high in fat but I don't like to exclude them altogether from this low fat granola recipe. They taste great in granola and are too nutritious to ignore! Although high in fat, they tend to be rich in heart healthy monounsaturated fats. In this recipe, I've used almonds. Almonds are one of the most nutrient-packed nuts and one of the lowest in fat. Hazelnuts are another great choice.

  

• Chop Your Nuts. In this low fat granola recipe, I've used sliced almonds. Using sliced or flaked almonds gives you more volume for your weight. In other words, a cup of sliced almonds will go a lot further in your granola than a cup of whole nuts. That means you can use less of them.

  

  If you want to use other whole nuts (e.g. hazelnuts), chop them roughly. The easiest way to do this is to put them in a Ziploc bag and bash lightly with a rolling pin.

• Bake It Low And Slow! Cook your granola nice and slowly and at a low temperature. This will help to make the granola nice and crunchy without the need for too much oil.
• Watch Your Serving Size! The best way to reduce the amount of fat you get from your granola is to simply eat less of it. The recipe below makes about 10 half cup servings but my favourite healthy breakfast is a big bowl of fresh fruit topped with a good dollop of yogurt and just a couple of tablespoons of homemade granola.

My Low Fat Granola Recipe Ingredients

4 cups/320g of rolled oats

2 tablespoon of maple syrup or honey

2 tablespoon of canola oil or sunflower oil

2 tablespoons of water

½ teaspoon of vanilla extract (optional)

1 cup/75g of sliced or flaked almonds

2/3 cup/80g of dried cherries

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 140C/275F.

2. Mix the oil, honey or maple syrup, vanilla extract and water together in a large bowl.

3. Stir in the oats. If you don't mind things getting a little messy, use your hands to really mix it well.

4. Spread the mixture out on a large baking pan and place in the oven for about 30 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes so that it cooks evenly.

5. After 30 minutes, stir in the almonds and cook for another 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, stir in the cherries while the granola is still warm and allow to cool. You can add the cherries when you add the almonds if you prefer but I personally don't like to cook them at all.

 

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