Simply Stephanie

I am a big fan of granola. I love eating it with fruit in the morning. For the longest time, I was consuming various store-bought versions, and it wasn’t until last fall that I tried making my own with cashew butter, which is heavenly.

I absolutely adore this recipe from the blog two peas & their pod. The original recipe calls for almond butter, which I have swapped with cashew butter. I’ve tried making it with almond butter, and it is very good, so either cashew or almond butter will work here. I’ve modified the recipe slightly, and since I just make this for myself, I make a half batch. 

Products: I buy my cashew butter from Whole Foods and Target. I use gluten-free oats from Bob’s Red Mill because they’re very careful about cross-contamination.

Tips: The oven temperature for this recipe is 325 degrees, and raising the temperature even slightly can result in burnt granola. 325 degrees for 30 minutes has resulted in perfectly golden granola.

My recipe and photos are below:

• 1.5 cups gluten free oats (I use Bob’s Red Mill) 
• ½ cup chopped cashews (or almonds) 
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ cup cashew butter (or almond butter) 
• ¼ cup dried cherries 
• ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon cane sugar
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil 
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. 
2. Chop cashews into small pieces. 
3. In a large bowl, combine oats, cashews, salt, cherries, and cane sugar.
4. In a small or medium sized bowl, add maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and cashew butter. Microwave for 30 seconds until the mixture has melted and is smooth. 
5. Pour liquid mixture over the oat mixture. Stir ingredients until they’re combined well. 
6. Prepare a sheet or parchment paper over a baking sheet. 
7. Pour granola mixture evenly onto the parchment paper. 
8. Bake granola for about 30 minutes. At the 20 minute mark, check granola and stir to make sure that the granola bakes evenly. 
9. After the granola is golden brown, take it out of the oven to cool. 
10. Once it’s cool, store in an airtight container and enjoy!