· Breakfast · 6 min read
Grain-Free Cinnamon Apple Granola
This grain-free cinnamon apple granola is crunchy, mildly sweet, and infused with flavors of cinnamon and maple. It is so versatile and goes great with yogurt, mascarpone, milk, or simply, as is.
Granola makes a healthy and delicious snack or breakfast addition, but not everyone (myself included) can digest oats properly. That’s where grainless granola comes in! There are many versions that you can make using a variety of nuts, seeds, coconut, dried fruit, etc. The texture can range from finely chopped to larger clusters (which is what I prefer, as you can see from the pictures).
This recipe is my take on grain-free granola. With it being the middle of October, I was inspired by my favorite season and the flavors it brings, including maple, cinnamon, and apple.
Ingredients For Grain-Free Apple Cinnamon Granola:
- pecans
- walnuts
- sunflower seeds
- apple chips (I like to use this recipe)
- maple syrup
- oil (grapeseed, olive, or avocado are all good choices)
- cinnamon
- salt
How to Make Grain-Free Cinnamon Apple Granola
To get this recipe started, preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine the pecans, walnuts, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the maple syrup and oil and mix until the ingredients are evenly combined. If you want your granola to have a finer texture, feel free to chop up the nuts before mixing everything.
Spread the mixture out onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast for 20 minutes and then stir. Raise the temperature to 350 degrees F and let the granola cook until it reaches a deep golden brown (for me this took 7-8 minutes). Increase or decrease the time depending on the heating power of your oven and how crunchy + browned you want your granola.
Let it cool for 15 minutes, without stirring. Doing this allows it to clump up. Once it’s cooled off, toss in the apple chips (optional). Well Plated has a great recipe for homemade apple chips that I like to use! Some delicious ways to enjoy grain-free cinnamon apple granola are with yogurt, mascarpone, on top of a smoothie, or simply, as is.
Tips for Making Nuts and Seeds Easier to Digest
If you find that eating nuts and seeds results in bloating or a “heavy” feeling in your gut, here are a few things to consider:
- Serving size - The serving size may be too much for your digestive system, personally. You can reduce the serving size until further healing progresses, and see how you do with slowly increasing it.
- A possible food intolerance - Getting a blood test was a really helpful step toward healing for me. I realized that I was eating things that were making me sick and contributing to my acid reflux symptoms.
- Phytates and lectins- Nuts/seeds contain these both and they bind to nutrients in our bodies. This can put a strain on the gut, especially in people with digestive issues like GERD or IBS.
To make nuts and seeds more digestible and reduce the amounts of phytates and lectins, you can soak them in warm water with salt for several hours beforehand.
How to soak the nuts and seeds in this recipe:
- Dissolve 1 tbsp of salt with enough warm water to cover the nuts and seeds.
- Add the pecans, walnuts, and sunflower seeds to the bowl.
- Soak, uncovered, and on the counter, for at least 7 hours.
- After they are finished soaking, rinse thoroughly and dry completely before roasting. You can dry them by using a dehydrator at 150 F or in the oven using the lowest temperature that it allows. Both of these methods can take anywhere from 12-24 hours.
This is process is TOTALLY optional. But, if you have had issues previously with digesting nuts and seeds, this may be helpful! Plus, this process results in a light-tasting and crispy texture, so that part doesn’t hurt either. ;)
Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 27 minutes | Total Time: | Servings: N/A
Ingredients
- 1 cup of apple chips (I like to use this recipe)
- 1 1/2 cups of raw pecans
- 1 1/2 cups of raw walnuts
- 3/4 cup of raw sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup of pure maple syrup
- 3 tbsp of oil (olive, avocado, or grapeseed are all good options!)
- 1 tsp of ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Combine the pecans, walnuts, sunflower seeds, 1 tsp of cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp of salt in a medium-sized bowl. Then stir in the oil and maple syrup.
- Spread out evenly onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20 minutes and then give the granola stir. Raise the temperature to 350 degrees F and bake until the granola is a toasty golden brown (this took 7-8 minutes for me).
- Let cool for 15 minutes before stirring. This allows the granola to clump up more. Once the granola is cooled off, stir in apple chips.
Notes
Approx. 5-7 FPs per serving (1/4-1/3 cup = 1 serving). FP stands for Fermentation Potential and is used to determine the symptom potential in foods for those using the Fast Tract Diet to heal/improve symptoms of GERD, LPR, SIBO, IBS, etc. To make the nuts and seeds more digestible, you can soak the nuts and seeds before hand. Directions to do this are above in the blog post. If you prefer a finer texture of granola, roughly chop the pecans and walnuts before hand. If I eat too many nuts and seeds in one sitting, bloating and digestive upset is short to follow. I stick to a 1/4 to a 1/3 cup for a serving, but feel free to decrease or increase the serving size depending on what your body can tolerate. All nutritional information are estimations and will vary.
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Disclosures: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This recipe was created following the guidelines of the Fast Tract Diet; a protocol I’ve used to personally help greatly reduce my GERD and chronic acid reflux symptoms. Keep in mind that a food one person may be able to tolerate, another may have trouble tolerating. Adjust recipes according to what fits your individual health and dietary needs.
