Green Spoon Granola
The Green Spoon•May 27, 2025
When we were developing this recipe, the most important considerations were keeping the sugar(s) content WAY down and ramping up the protein and fiber content considerably. Our friend and source of endless nutritional wisdom, the nutritionist and Substack author Mia Rigden, recently made us aware of the fact that rolled oats—a foundational ingredient is so many families’ kitchens—are not, in fact, all that nutritious, and contain far less fiber than we have been led to believe by the Rolled Oat Lobby.1 So, in an effort to diversify the ingredients for a supercharged version of the breakfast staple, we minimized the amount of oats, and added in a bunch of delicious, crunchy, and savory seeds, nuts, and grains.
Because some of the below ingredients—though not hard to find—are not already in everybody’s pantries, we recommend buying them in bulk (or ordering larger quantities online) and making a batch of this granola every couple of weeks.2 It’ll end up being cheaper than the packaged stuff, far more delicious, and peerless when it comes to nutrition and sustenance.
Note: If you plan to serve this to an under-1-year-old, or a toddler who’s still figuring out crunchy or chunky textures, omit the raisins and salt, and, when the granola is cool, blitz it briefly in a food processor to give it a coarse sand-like consistency.
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We’re Fanny and Greta, dear friends with deep backgrounds in sustainable food. This is a space for the food lovers, home cooks, would-be home cooks and anyone who needs a bit of inspiration and gentle guidance in their family kitchen.
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 300°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Add all of the dry ingredients to a large bowl and stir to combine. Pour the olive oil (½ cup), date syrup (½ cup), applesauce (½ cup) and vanilla (1 tsp) into a sauce pan over low heat and whisk to combine, about 5 minutes.
Pour the liquid over the dry ingredients and stir to coat everything evenly. Empty onto your baking sheet and spread into an even layer, about ¾–1" deep.
Bake for about 40 minutes, stirring and re-spreading every 10–15 minutes, until the whole batch is a uniformly golden-brown color (but well before you start to smell any burning aroma).
Remove from the oven and use a Microplane zester to zest an entire orange overtop. Stir again to incorporate.
Let cool completely before serving or storing in an airtight container.
Notes
Simplifications & Substitutions
If you’d like to simplify or substitute ingredients, go for it! This recipe is endlessly riffable. Just be sure to adjust ratios accordingly so that you don’t end up with too much wet or too much dry. Some suggestions:
- Need to omit the nuts for a nut-free version? Increase equal parts pumpkin and sunflower seeds.
- Prefer almonds to walnuts? Only have cashews in the pantry? Any favorite nut can replace walnuts here.
- You can use maple syrup instead of date sugar but know that date syrup has a much lower glycemic index than maple syrup and also contains more nutrients, amino acids, and minerals including potassium, magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus,. It also contains more fiber than maple syrup, and up to 10 times the antioxidants. AND! it tastes delicious—sort of like if molasses and blueberry jam had a baby.
- You can sub amaranth for millet.
- You can sub extra-virgin coconut oil for olive oil.
- You can sub ground cardamom for the cinnamon.
Organic ingredients
Ideally, you’ll purchase 100% organic ingredients for this recipe, but we flagged it for oats and oranges in particular because both tend to be heavily treated (in the U.S.) with a toxic weedkiller called glyphosate.
