Applesauce Granola

This homemade applesauce granola is easy to make with a handful of kitchen staples! Lightly sweetened, delightfully crunchy, and budget-friendly, this is the perfect meal prep for your breakfast or as a healthy snack.

With flavors similar to apple pie, this apple-flavored granola is easy, flavorful, and a household favorite!

 

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• It’s budget-friendly! Fancy granola tends to cost a pretty penny and this homemade version is much easier on the wallet and you can make as much or as little as you’d like!
• It’s very easy to make. Homemade granola is as simple as stirring everything together and then spreading it onto a sheet pan and baking. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.
• You can control how much sugar you add to your granola! I do have a sweeter tooth than most, so I don’t mind sweeter granola, but I know many people who do not like the amount of sugar in store-bought granola. Making it at home takes out the guesswork on whether the granola is too sweet or not for your liking! Add as much or as little maple syrup as you’d like!

Ingredients You’ll Need

• oil — I use olive oil, but you can also use coconut oil (use refined coconut oil so you don’t get the coconut flavor).
• applesauce — I use sweetened applesauce, but you can always use unsweetened applesauce and add extra maple syrup to sweeten it to your liking.
• maple syrup — make sure you are buying maple syrup and not pancake syrup. Maple syrup comes straight from trees, whereas pancake syrup is usually made with corn syrup.
• vanilla — a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract adds a nice hint of sweetness to the granola.
• salt — just a pinch of kosher salt to balance out the flavors.
• cinnamon — the ground cinnamon pairs wonderfully with the apple flavors.
• rolled oats — make sure you are using old-fashioned rolled oats. This will make up the base of the homemade granola and provide the best texture and flavor compared to using instant or quick cooking oats.
• almonds & pumpkin seeds — I’m using almonds and pumpkin seeds but you can use your favorite nuts and seeds such as cashews, pecans, walnuts, sunflower seeds, etc.

How to Make Applesauce Granola

• Heat the oven to 325F.
• In a bowl, combine the oil, applesauce, maple syrup, vanilla extract, salt, and ground cinnamon. Stir until well combined.
• Add the rolled oats, almonds, pumpkin seeds, and the applesauce mixture to a bowl and stir until well combined.

• Using a spatula, spread the granola onto a lined sheet pan in a thin, even layer and press it flat.
• Bake the granola for 15 minutes and then stir before baking for another 12 to 15 minutes or until it is at your desired level of golden brown. If you would like large clusters, gently flip the granola and try to make sure they keep their shape instead of stirring. Allow the granola to cool before transferring to a container or serving.

Make Ahead Tips

• Meal prep: once cooled, store the granola in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks in a cool, dry area.
• Freezer: you can freeze homemade granola and it will stay fresh for up to three months. Allow the applesauce granola to cool before transferring a freezer-safe airtight container and freezing.

Serving Ideas

Here are a few ways to enjoy this applesauce granola:

• eat it by the handful, as a snack!
• serve it over a bowl of homemade yogurt (or my peanut butter Greek yogurt bowl or chia yogurt bowls)
• serve it over cottage cheese with fruit or whipped cottage cheese
• serve it over chia pudding (it’s great over warm chia pudding too!)
• serve it over overnight oats
• sprinkle it on top of a smoothie bowl

More Breakfast Recipes to Try

• Sheet Pan Pancakes
• Matcha Overnight Oats
• Honey Oatmeal
• Applesauce Overnight Oats

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