Nutfree Coconut Chia Granola

So, in case you were wondering, yes I do know “nut-free” contains a hyphen but I found out recently that nobody searches with hyphenated words in google or anywhere else really. Really?! What about you guys, if you search for “gluten-free”, “nut-free” or “valentine’s” recipes for that matter…do you or don’t you type the hyphen/apostrophe? It is incredibly hard for me as a translator to omit grammar rules like this in order to be found on Google or elsewhere and I certainly want all of you and others to find this recipe for “Nutfree Coconut Chia Granola”. I do know I have a couple of typos here and there in some posts but this is not because I don’t care how things are written and rather because I tend to write my blog posts late at night when the kids are sleeping and not disturbing my writing spirit with ninja fights or pulling at my shirt asking for attention. I apologize for those mistakes and I do appreciate when people let me know so I can correct them. I wonder though, are most people simply not like me and really don’t care? I mean, I don’t believe this can be blamed on laziness because, come on, how much longer can it take to write nut-free? It can’t be this. What is it then? A mystery…at least to me. I will adapt though to this new (?) trend. Firstly, because I want my recipes to be easily found and secondly, because language evolves and if I don’t, I die with all and the language.

Ok, so, now to the more important stuff: Nutfree Coconut Chia Granola! Nutfree or nut-free, both ways it does not contain nuts — yay for the nut-allergic or nut-intolerant or nut-haters! — and tastes incredibly coconutty (coconut is not a nut despite the name) because it contains both coconut oil and shredded coconut. Make sure the coconut is shredded coarsely because if it is shredded finely it will suck up all the oil and you will need more of it and it’ll make it taste oily. The chia seeds give the granola nice texture and convert it into a magnesium, calcium and iron rich food full of fiber. It is vegan because for sweetness I used….the one and only….better than the best….*drumroll please*…MAPLE SYRUP. Mmmmm. You didn’t know I love maple syrup? Check out my previous sweet  recipes or go to the drop-down menu on the left and choose “dessert” and you’ll see that probably 90% of all of my desserts are sweetened with this wonderful stuff. It takes less than 5 minutes to make up a batch of granola and then only an hour in the oven and you are left with a big container of granola to sprinkle over your oatmeal in the morning or on your yoghurt or fruit salad or to just eat with a spoon out of the container because it tastes so good.

I tend to just walk by the candy and chocolate isles in the stores because most stuff (even at health food stores) is just filled with nasty stuff apart from all the sugar and I don’t want to be tested in a week moment late in the evening when craving something sweet. This granola is the perfect midnight snack treat for just before bed when sill reading or watching TV. My husband and I love to mix it with some unsweetened plain yoghurt and berries. Delish!

Nutfree Coconut Chia Granola

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Servings: 1

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 1.5 cups shredded coconut
• 1/3 cup chia seeds
• 1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)
• 1/3 cup maple syrup

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 250 F (120 °C)
• In a big bowl mix together oats, shredded coconut and chia seeds.
• In a small bowl whisk together melted coconut oil and maple syrup.
• Mix wet and dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until all oats are wet from all sides.
• Pour everything onto a large plain baking sheet (no baking paper!) and spread out into a thin layer.
• Bake for 1 hour stirring everything up once or twice during that hour to prevent from sticking to the baking sheet and burn.
• Store in an airtight glass container.

Have you tried this recipe?Take a picture and tag @greenhealthycooking Can't wait to see your version!