Gluten free, grain-free, refined sugar-free paleo granola recipe. This simple recipe incorporates nuts and seeds, plus – bonus points – you end up with huge granola clusters!
Do you ever get such a massive hankering for something crunchy that it can’t be contained, quenched, or satisfied with anything other than granola?
This happens to me regularly.
I go about my business eating my veggies and rice and salmon on a weekly basis, then all of a sudden, BOOM!
When these savage cravings occur, I head to the bulk bins at the store and buy up all the nuts and seeds to make my own paleo granola that is free of refined sugar and grains.
I have been making this homemade paleo granola recipe since because 2014! I have the ultimate control over how much added sugar goes in, plus, I enjoy experimenting with various nuts, seeds, and flavors.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
- It’s super straight-forward, incorporating ingredients you can buy in bulk from any grocery store.
- Virtually all nuts and seeds work here! Use this as a base recipe for all your homemade granola recipes.
- We end up with huge granola clusters with the perfect crispy crunch! Largely-sized clusters are a major highlight of granola.
- Sweetened with a natural sweetener (pure maple syrup) for a refined sugar-free option.
I love eating this grain-free paleo granola with splash of almond milk or coconut milk and fresh seasonal fruit.
Let’s discuss the simple ingredients for paleo granola!
Paleo Granola Ingredients:
Wet Ingredients: Egg white, avocado oil, pure maple syrup, and pure vanilla extract. The purpose of the egg white is to help the ingredients stick together for large clusters.
Dry Ingredients: Cashews, walnuts, shredded coconut, pumpkin seeds, ground cinnamon, dried cranberries, and sea salt. Change these base ingredients for any combination of nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. You will need 6 cups total.
Optional Customizations:
- For sweeter granola, add more pure maple syrup or mix in some coconut sugar. For me, this is just the right amount of sweetness, but I imagine others may prefer sweeter.
- Melted coconut oil or olive oil work as replacements for avocado oil.
- Make it egg-free by swapping the egg white for 3 tablespoons of almond butter.
Tips For Preparing This Recipe
- Use a variety of nuts and seeds. Raw walnuts, pecans, cashews, almonds, macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds…toss it all in!
- Use dried fruit and unsweetened coconut flakes. Both add natural sweetness and flavor without having to add processed sugar. Just be sure to use juice-sweetened dried fruit in order to keep this recipe paleo-friendly.
- Give your ingredients a good chop or run through the food processor. This helps the ingredients stick together easily.
- Use an egg white and water. I know, it sounds strange. But it helps hold all of the ingredients together, and makes for a crispy granola with large clusters. We want the biggest clusters we can get.
- Don’t swap out the pure maple syrup for honey. Honey burns at a relatively low temperature and causes the ingredients to get too crispy or even burn.
How to Make Paleo Granola:
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk together the egg white and water in a bowl.
Add the walnuts, cashews, pumpkin seeds, and shredded coconut to a blender or food processor, and process for just a couple of seconds. The goal is to grind some of the nuts finely, and leaving many of the nuts chopped or whole.
Transfer the nutty mixture to a large mixing bowl with the egg white mixture. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the avocado oil, pure maple syrup, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon and sea salt until combined.
Pour this mixture into the mixing bowl with the rest of the granola ingredients and mix everything together until well combined.
Spread the granola mixture out on the prepared baking sheet, creating a relatively thick even layer. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until golden brown and crispy.
Allow the granola to rest at least 30 minutes before breaking it into clusters using a spatula or wooden spoon. This is what causes large granola clusters, so don’t skip this step!
Break the grain free granola into large chunks using your hands! Enjoy your homemade granola with fresh fruit, yogurt, or any kind of milk.
Other Variations:
- Cinnamon Raisin: Add another teaspoon of cinnamon and swap the dried cranberries for raisins.
- Blueberry: Use dried blueberries instead of dried cranberries.
- Chocolate Chip: Mix chocolate chips in with the granola after it has finished cooling completely.
- Lemon Poppy Seed: Add 2 tablespoons of poppy seeds to the granola base. Stir 2 tablespoons of lemon zest into the finished granola (after cooling).
- Cranberry Orange: Keep the dried cranberries as is and mix 2 tablespoons of fresh orange zest into the finished cooled granola.
Storage Options:
- Room Temperature: Store grain free granola at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
- Refrigerator: Refrigerate in an airtight container (such as a mason jar or a zip lock bag) for up to 2 weeks.
Ideal for meal prep, this easy paleo granola recipe is a great way to replace breakfast cereal. It makes a big batch, so you’re set for days on end!
Drop a comment below letting me know which wholesome ingredients you use in your own granola!
More Healthy Gluten-Free Granola Recipes:
- Walnut Granola Clusters
- 5-Ingredient Healthy Granola Bars
- Grain-Free Tahini Granola
- Coconut Sunflower Seed Paleo Granola
Paleo Granola Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 egg white lightly beaten, see note*
- 2 tablespoons water see note*
- 2 cups raw walnuts
- 2 cup raw cashews
- 1 cup raw pumpkin seeds pepitas
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup dried cranberries see note**
- 3 tablespoons avocado oil see note***
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup or honey****
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Whisk together the egg white and water in a bowl until slightly foamy. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the avocado oil, pure maple syrup, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon and sea salt until combined.
- Add the walnuts, cashews, pumpkin seeds, and shredded coconut to a blender or food processor, and process for just a couple of seconds to chop the ingredients smaller.
- Transfer the nutty mixture to a large mixing bowl along with the egg white mixture and the oil/maple mixture. Mix everything together until well combined.
- Spread the granola mixture on the parchment-lined baking sheet into an even layer. It will be a somewhat thick layer, and this is normal! Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until golden-brown and crispy.
- Remove granola from the oven and allow it to sit at least 30 minutes without stirring it – this is where the clustering happens, so be sure to not skip this step!!
- Use a spatula or wooden spoon to break the granola into clusters.
- Once cool, store the granola in a 2-quart sealable glass jar or zip lock bag.
- Eat granola with your favorite non-dairy milk or yogurt and fruit
Thanks so much, Julia, for this wonderful recipe!!! It smelled like heaven as I was making it, and tastes absolutely delicious. WOW. If this is what Paleo life is like, then I’ll join the club!
P. S. I’ll reiterate what someone said above about variable cooking time depending on oven strength. My granola almost burned 28 minutes in, at 300 F. So make sure to check it regularly.
P. P. S. Interesting how the sweetness goes away once baked. At first I thought: wow, this is gonna be pretttty sweet (I *may have even tasted a spoonful of this deliciousness as I was making it). But this was not the case at all at the end. To keep in mind…
You’re so welcome, Alexandra!! I’m happy you love the granola – it’s seriously one of my favorite breakfasts and snacks. I made another note in the recipe regarding bake time, as I’ve noticed honey has a quicker burn time than maple syrup. Whenever I use maple syrup in granola, I end up baking it longer than when I use honey. It is funny how the sweetness kind of dissipates during the baking process! I always end up eating the granola with lots of banana and/or honey to add some sweet to it 😀 Thanks so much for your feedback!! xoxo
Yes, fresh banana with it is delicious!
Also, I should mention my boyfriend tasted it today and almost fainted 🙂
Thanks again for the amazing recipe & best of luck with everything! xoxo
Wahooooo! You’re so welcome and thank YOU for the sweet words! 😀
Can you use ground flax seed and water as a substitute for the egg white? We just found out our daughter is allergic to egg whites, milk and wheat…. But she loves granola every morning with her yogurt
Hi Allison! Yes, you can use ground flax and water to replace the egg. I’d just do 1 tablespoon of flax seeds and 3 tablespoons of water. You can also check out a vegan version of this recipe here: https://www.theroastedroot.net/coconut-walnut-sunflower-seed-paleo-granola/ Hope you enjoy!
Wow — so good. Thanks for a great example of using eggs in place of tons of sugar to glue stuff together.
Hello, I can’t eat eggs so is there a good sub for the egg white?
Thanks
Hi James, You can make a flax egg by combining one tablespoon of ground flax seed with 3 tablespoons of water. Simply mix the flax seed and the water in a bowl and allow it to sit for 10 minutes or so. After this amount of time, the flax will thicken to an egg-like consistency. Mix this in with your granola, and you should be good to go 🙂
OMGosh! this is the first time i’ve read you’re blog and i’m in love w/you already. i laughed out loud like 10 times! we are DEFINITELY on the same page w/the crunch factor. i say things should be so crunchy they almost hurt your jaw. my mom doesn’t get this…
now i must go to the store to get my granola ingredients…idk how we’ve run out of cashews and pepitas…oh that’s right, i love crunch and i eat them!
thx so much for sharing this recipe. can’t wait to enjoy it later tonight after it cooks for forever. 😉
Ohhh Michele, I’m so happy to hear you’re interested in making the granola and got a good chuckle out of the post! I hope you enjoy the crunch, and feel free to reach out if you have any questions! 🙂 xoxo
I assume you are aware that your cup of dried cranberries contains up to 90g of refined sugar, slightly less if sweetened with apple juice concentrate. Just sayin’.
awesome! I added almonds to the recipe, and its delicious!
I’m so glad you like it, Ronda! Almonds are definitely a winning addition! 😀 xo
OMG… In the oven. Of course I tasted before I put it in and my eyes rolled back in my head! I substituted 1/2 cup of nuts with hemp and somehow missed the 2tbs. Of water… So we’ll see how it sticks together… But it will be eaten… Tastes amazing!
how long and how do I store this? Fridge or ? Thank you
I skip the egg whites to avoid shelf stability issues. Use blender chopped almonds, cashews, filberts, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, walnuts, ground flax, shredded unsweetened coconut, honey or maple syrup and water. Lots of Cinnamon. Bake it until really dry. Then in container in pantry for 2-3 weeks.
nuts have short shelf lives too. the delicate oils in them can go rancid in a couple of weeks in warmer temperatures. i say add the egg white because it creates better clusters, then store your granola in an air tight container in the fridge, which i would recommend doing even if you didn’t add the egg white.
Followed the directions to the “T” and burned the trail mix. I’d suggest only going 30 minutes. Smells delicious, definitely be trying it again.
Oh no! Sorry to hear that, Brandon! I’m wondering if it’s because I live at high elevation that my granola took longer to cook. I’ll make a note of this in the recipe. I hope it works out for the next go-round, and my apologies again.
So…if it tastes as good cooked as it did putting it on the pan…I am in serious trouble!!!
Isn’t it crazy amazing? Hope you enjoy!!!
do I need to refrigerate this granola?. I’m only asking because There are egg whites in it.
what do you find the shelf life to be?
Hi Michael, I didn’t refrigerate it, and I kept it for about 10 days. If you’re concerned about it, I’d say make a smaller batch and use it in a few days or refrigerate it. The last thing I’d want is for you to get sick!!
Sure is yummy good. Very filling. I might try the recipe without the egg white so I don’t have to worry about it perishing.
I tend to make large batches of granola once every month or so rather than every week just because it’s hard to find the time sometimes.
We have recently went grain free and were missing the crunch on our yogurt so we saw your recipe and tried it. Wow! This was exactly what we were looking for! We have tried a few other recipes but this one is the only one we will be using from now on. Thank you for posting it!
It’s still in the oven, but if it tastes as good as it smells…woah!
Yaaaay! I’m so glad you’re trying out the granola, Kiki! It’s seriously addicting! Let me know how you like it! 🙂 xoxo
I made this today – so tasty and that crunch factor… wow! I added in some chopped almonds and dates for even more flavour. And the cluster thing really worked. Loving it!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Sheridan! My favorite part about the granola is how ridiculously crunchy it is without being hard…nice and crispy without the risk of breaking a tooth, lol! Thanks so much for your feedback, dear!
This is absolutely a crazy recipe. I am trying it tonight. I love granola. Thank you for not adding sugar or agave. Yuck!
The cranberries go in the oven not mixed afterwords? Do you think this would be okay with nut substitutions?
Hi Roxana, I put the cranberries in the oven and they stayed nice and mushy and didn’t turn rock solid. Probably because this granola is baked at a lower heat than usual and there’s a ton of it. If it were spread out and/or cooked at a higher temp, the cranberries would probably dry up. Anyway, you can add the cranberries in at the end if you’d like 🙂
What were you thinking of using to replace the nuts? Since this recipe is almost entirely nuts, I’m thinking it’d be best to look at a different recipe rather than trying to replace all the nuts with something else. Let me know if you try the recipe and thanks for your interest!!
I just don’t like cashews and was going to use almonds- think that’s ok? Going to make tonight will let you know how it goes- thanks!
Oh I see, I thought you meant taking the nuts out altogether 😉 My bad! Yup, substituting cashews for almonds will work just fine 🙂 Hope you enjoy!!
Any chance you have other options for walnuts and cashews? I just found out that I am allergic to those 2. I’m guessing almonds? But what else would be wonderful with almonds? Thanks!
Pecans!! 🙂
Hi Ronica,
You can definitely do almonds, and as Monique mentioned, pecans are awesome in granola! Although I’ve never tried them in granola, I think pistachios would be a fun one, too. 😉 Hope you enjoy!! xo