Friday, June 21, 2013

Grain-Free, Sugar-Free, Low Carb Granola!

I love granola.  I've always loved granola.  I ate granola bars when hiking, on road trips, when camping, or just as a delicious snack.  I even got into making my own granola bars at one time, which is when I found out how bad granola actually is for you.  It's literally oats and nuts stuck together with a ton of honey or sugar with what I thought at the time was an ungodly amount of butter. 

I miss granola, though.  Even though I no longer eat oats or sugar, I sometimes long for the simple pleasure of eating a sweet and salty crunchy mix.  So I decided I would just jump in and make some granola, low carb style! 

My intention was to make granola bars, but there wasn't enough of a stickiness factor, and so instead it's just loose granola.  I'll try again another day with more xylitol (the sticky part) and see if I can't make bars.

For a first try, though, it came out pretty amazing.  I'll keep working on it.  Until then, here's the recipe!

(P.S. This stuff is addicting!  Make sure to dish yourself out only a little at a time, or you may eat the whole thing!)


Low Carb Peanut Butter Granola


1/2 cup dry roasted almonds
1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts
1/4 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
1/4 cup raisins (optional)
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp xylitol*
1 tbsp vanilla coffee syrup (such as DaVinci)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Add the nuts and coconut to a food processor and pulse several times until no large chunks remain.  Or, if you don't have a food processor like me, hand chop the nuts until they're roughly the size of oats.  I left in some big chunks for variety.  Add raisins and set aside.

Mix xylitol and syrup in a microwave safe cup.  Microwave on high for 15-30 seconds, or until syrup is hot.  Stir mixture until all the xylitol dissolves. 

Add the peanut butter and the syrup mixture to the nuts at the same time, and stir well until all ingredients are incorporated.  Spread granola mixture evenly on the bottom of a greased 8x8 dish.  Cook in oven for 10 minutes; remove and stir mixture.  Return to the oven and continue cooking for another 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and allow to completely cool.  Store in a resealable bag or plastic container.

*Don't try to substitute this with Stevia or Splenda.  The xylitol has similar properties to sugar, and in this recipe, it acts as a sticky binder.  You might be able to use erythritol with no problem, though, or even plain sugar if you don't mind eating a little bit.

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Nutrition facts with raisins:

Six Servings:
Calories: 200
Fat: 15g
Protein: 6g
Carbs: 13g
Fiber: 3g
Net Carbs: 10g

Eight Servings:
Calories: 150
Fat: 11g
Protein: 5g
Carbs: 10g
Fiber: 2g
Net Carbs: 8g


Nutrition facts without raisins:

Six Servings:
Calories: 180
Fat: 15g
Protein: 6g
Carbs: 8g
Fiber: 3g
Net Carbs: 5g

Eight Servings:
Calories: 135
Fat: 11g
Protein: 5g
Carbs: 6g
Fiber: 2g
Net Carbs: 4g

3 comments:

  1. Heh, I'd be tempted to put this in a bowl with milk and eat it like cereal--it's mostly nuts, so it's not like it'd get soggy =P

    BTW, I don't normally use xylitol and have never seen vanilla syrup, and I try to avoid buying stuff just for one recipe--think it'd work to substitute honey for both of those (and maybe add a little vanilla extract)? I know it'd add sugar, but I can't imagine it'd be that bad when spread over 6 servings.

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  2. @Dena: I'm so tempted to just pour a bunch in a bowl and put milk over it. Oh god, that sounds so good. LOL!

    As for honey, yes! If you're comfortable including honey in your diet, I don't think there should be a problem there. It probably would even stick together a little better.

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  3. LOVE nuts with raisins (or craisins. or dried cherries.) Good job! :)

    I gotta re-create my kick-a BBQ sauce and find a way to primal sweeten it. A summer project of mine I have yet to start. ;)

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