It’s been a while but here I am again with a recipe for my newly favorite granola. I haven’t strayed too, too far from my previously posted puffed grain granola recipe. The main puffed grain I use now is kamut, which is a bigger grain than wheat and is still a good size after it shrinks, and my nuts of choice are now pecans. I often add wheat germ for added protein and nutritional value.

I always forget how quick and easy it is to make granola, and I never make it as often as I should, in part because as soon as I make it, the granola monster, otherwise known as my husband, devours it by the handfuls as a snack. When I do have it, it’s my favorite quick breakfast with yogurt and berries. We also take it along on hikes as an alternative to granola bars, which are typically very sweet. I think that it would also make a nice homemade gift.

My regular grocery store doesn’t carry puffed grains, but I’ve found them at health food stores or grocery stores which have a larger selection of health food — whatever that means — like Whole Foods and Sprouts. If you live in the US, you can use the Arrowhead Mills locator to find stores that carry them. Arrowhead Mills isn’t the only brand that carries puffed grains, but it’s the only one I’ve found in West Los Angeles.

Favorite low-sodium granola with puffed grains, pecans, maple syrup, and honey

Makes about 4 cups (940ml) granola

Ingredients

• 3 cups (53g) puffed kamut, no salt added
• 1 cup (18g) puffed whole grain brown rice, no salt added
• 1 cup (83g) old fashioned oats
• 1 cup (105g) chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup (25g) wheat germ (optional)
• 2 tablespoons (18g) sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons (21g) flax seeds
• 1 teaspoon (5mL) ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup (80g) maple syrup or other sweetener
• 2 tablespoons (22g) melted butter or olive oil
• 2 tablespoons (35g) honey
• 1 teaspoon (5mL) vanilla
• 1 egg white from an extra large egg or 2 egg whites from smaller eggs

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine together the dry ingredients. Set the bowl aside to whisk the egg white.
3. Whisk the egg white until frothy in a medium-sized bowl.
4. Returning to the dry ingredient bowl, stir in the maple syrup, butter or olive oil, honey, and vanilla until combined. Then gently stir in the whisked egg white until the mixture is evenly coated.
5. Transfer the mixture to a porcelain or glass dish. The size of the porcelain dish I use is 9″x13″ (22.5cm x 33cm). Spread out the mixture, concentrating slightly more of the granola mixture near the edges, where it cooks more quickly.
6. Bake the granola, stirring every 10 minutes, until the pecans are browned and the mixture starts to look and feel dry when stirred, about 45-50 minutes. The puffed grains will not be crunchy right out of the oven but they should become crunchy as the granola cools.
7. Cool completely. Once cooled, store the granola into an airtight container. I store mine in the 1 liter (33 3/4 oz) Bormioli Rocco Fido jar.
8. The granola keeps at room temperature for about two weeks.

Process photos

Dry ingredients

Before baking

Baked granola

Serving suggestion: over lightly-sweetened yogurt topped with fresh fruit

Tips

Sources of sodium

• Egg whites

Approximate sodium intake per serving size of 2/3 cup (158ml/53g/1.9oz): 9mg

• all from the egg white, which has approximately 55mg sodium

Serving suggestion

• My favorite way to eat it is over plain yogurt sweetened with a little bit of maple syrup and honey and topped with fresh fruit. Check the nutritional label if you consume store-bought yogurt. Yogurt has a fairly large amount of sodium. Choosing original style rather than lower-fat yogurt helps.

Modifications

• Variations

  Add in all of your favorite granola toppings, skip all of the toppings you don’t like. If you want to add dried fruit, add it before transferring the cooled granola to an airtight container.

• Make it vegan

  Choose the olive oil over the butter, skip the egg whites, and replace the honey with another sweetener. I’ve never tried to make a vegan version myself, but I suspect that it will still be very tasty though maybe not as crunch as the non-vegan version.

Did you make this?

• If you recreate this recipe, I’d love to know! Leave a comment here and tag @alickofsalt on social media.