Crunchy, grain free banana granola made with mixed nuts, seeds, natural sweeteners and mashed bananas for easy homemade breakfasts and snacks on the go.
There are a ton of reasons to love this homemade banana granola, but I’ll keep it brief with some of the main points here:
- Grain-free: Unlike more traditional granola recipes that are made with oats, this one relies on a mixture of nuts, seeds and desiccated coconut to create it’s delicious texture and bulk!
- Oats can be a tricky ingredient for anyone needing to avoid gluten because of how easily they are exposed to cross contamination.You can learn more about how to safely consume oats on a gluten free diet in my post:Â Are Oats Gluten Free?
- Nutrient-dense: This granola is made with natural sweeteners, healthy fats, protein and carbs.
- Easy to make: Simply mash, mix and bake – no special equipment needed.
Grain Free Banana Granola Ingredients
- walnuts and cashews – roughly chopped
- unsweetened coconut – desiccated or shredded coconut
- pumpkin seeds (aka pepitas) and sunflower seeds – for extra crunch
- ground cinnamon – adds a bit of warmth
- coconut oil – melted and cooled
- maple syrup – just a touch to balance of the banana flavor
- vanilla extract – a little flavor
- mashed banana – our main sweetener
More Granola Recipes You Might Like:
- Turmeric Stove Top Paleo Granola
- Crunchy Banana Chocolate Granola
- Homemade Pumpkin Spice Granola
- Grain Free Paleo Vegan Granola
Recipe
Grain Free Banana Granola
Yield:
9 servings
Prep Time:
10 minutes
Cook Time:
25 minutes
Total Time:
35 minutes
Crunchy, grain free banana granola made with mixed nuts, seeds, natural sweeteners and mashed bananas for easy homemade breakfasts and snacks on the go.
Ingredients
- 1 cup | 140 grams raw cashews, roughly chopped
- 1 cup | 100 grams raw walnuts, roughly chopped
- 1 cup | 95 grams shredded or desiccated unsweetened coconut
- 1/2 cup | 65 grams pumpkin seeds/pepitas
- 1/2 cup | 70 grams sunflower seeds
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 cup 60 ml coconut oil, melted
- 2 medium bananas, ripened and mashed
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey if you don't need it to be vegan
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Need help converting to weights? Check out my cups to grams Conversion Guide.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper ready for your granola.
- In a large mixing bowl combine your chopped nuts, seeds, desiccated coconut, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl mash the bananas with a fork. Stir in the melted coconut, vanilla extract, and maple syrup.
- Pour the banana-oil mixture over the granola and stir it all together making sure that every bit is coated in the banana mixture.
- Spread the granola out on the lined baking tray in an even layer and bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes. About halfway through remove the pan to gently stir the granola so that it cooks evenly. Once it reaches a golden brown colour, remove and cool before serving.
Notes
one serving is about 1/2 cup
Nutrition Information
Yield: 9
Serving Size:
cup Calories: 388Saturated Fat: 13gSodium: 7mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 4gSugar: 8gProtein: 8gThis website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Cathy says
I love granola and this looks great!!! Thank you so much for sharing on MMM! I am so glad that you came! 🙂
Cathy
Sarah says
Thanks, Cathy!
Vicky @ Avocdo Pesto says
Just discovering your blog today (from a post in one of the facebook blogging groups I just joined) and am so sorry to hear about what Mike has had to deal with since childhood. My cousin has been having health issues for the last few years – what started as a neglected snowboarding injury led to shoulder surgery and tendonitis in the other should, fast forward to partically being bed ridden and now that has turned in Lyme disease which went undiagnosed for over a year and now is chronic lyme disease. He has had horrible joint pain, brain fog, exhaustion, etc – and I know that acupuncture has helped him a ton. He also feels that hot yoga has really helped him over time as well as ozone therapy (he has even purchased his own ozone machine). He currently is on a paleo diet (so gluten free and dairy free) Though Mike’s condition is obviously different those things could help him too.
On a separate note this recipe looks fabulous!
Sarah says
Hi VIcky!
I’m so sorry to hear about how things kind of just spiraled down for your cousin! Lyme’s disease can be such a tricky thing to deal with – I can image how frustrating that might be for everyone. I’m glad to hear that he’s found a bit of success with acupuncture and hot yoga though! I’d actually like to try hot yoga myself sometimes because it sounds like a lot of fun to me. Isn’t it amazing how big of a role our diet plays into things like that? Mike’s mostly Paleo – he’ll have rice and potatoes on occasion. It’s helped a lot, but not quite as much as we’d hope. I think it’s something that will get better with time though. So many years of eating the wrongs things took their toll in a very big way and we’re just now starting to get to the bottom of it.
I hope things for your cousin improve! Thanks for the feedback – I very much appreciate it!
All that's Jas says
Looks yummy and hearty! Thanks for sharing at Thursday Favorite Things!
Sarah says
Thanks, Jas!
Sarah says
Thank you so much!
April J Harris says
I haven’t tried acupuncture personally but several folks I know have had it with very good results. Two or three of my friends have it regularly. Your granola recipe looks fantastic – so healthy and delicious. I know my family will love it! Thank you for sharing with us at the Hearth and Soul hop.
Sarah says
That’s wonderful to hear that you’ve got friends who have seen results with it! It seems like acupuncture can be a great thing provided you see the right person. Thank you so much for stopping by – I hope you family likes this as much as we do!
Cat says
I’m so happy that I found your blog, is so full of delicious recipes! Like this one!!! I really feel for Mike, if it can help I can tell that my mom suffers of MS and she experimented great results with acupuncture, same for one of my best friends that suffer of psoriatic arthritis. They had like 2 or 3 sessions, but then they start to see some improvements. Of course is not magic but it helps! Also, you could try to give him some Melatonin (here in Italy is very easy to find and buy) if you haven’t tried it already. Is very helpful with sleep problems. Here is an article (in case you haven’t already search about it) https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/melatonin-and-sleep.
I really wish you al the best!
Sarah says
Hi Cat!
I’m sorry to find out that your mom has MS, but I’m glad to hear that she did see some benefits from trying acupuncture. I’m quite looking forward to him trying it because we’ve heard such great things about the woman he was recommended to see. To be honest, he tried taking melatonin years ago, but never found that it did much for him. I think it would be a good idea to try again though because it was at a time when he had a lot of undiagnosed problems. It could be a lot more effective this time around, and I’m willing to try anything that might help.
Thanks again – I so appreciate your kindess!
Chris @ SimpleFood365 says
What a wonderful recipe and a great mix of yummy things! Love the pictures too!
Sarah says
Thanks, Chris!
Meredith says
Looks sooooo good!!! Have you ever tried putting it into a bowl with some cold coconut milk?
Sarah says
Thanks Meredith! I usually eat it by the handful, but my husband loves sitting down with this in some coconut or almond milk and loves it that way
Bethany says
This looks really good!
Sarah says
Thanks, Bethany!
Lyndsay says
Yum ? This recipe looks so delicious. I love that there’s no oats. Even the Gluten Free oats make me feel sick, so I’m always on the look out for Granola recipes that don’t use them.I’m pinning it for later. Thanks for sharing ?
Sarah says
Thanks, Lyndsay! My father in law is lucky enough to not be effected by gluten free oats, but my husband is like you in that it doesn’t always agree with him. It’s tricky isn’t it? Hope you like this as much as we do!
Vicki Montague - The Free From Fairy says
Wow! I have never thought of putting mashed banana in granola. That is genius!!! I am going to try this out. I have had accupuncture and oddly it really hurt me. I think it was because my body was generally suffering from inflammation. Now that I have been on an anti inflammatory diet I wonder if it would be better. It did nothing to help the pain in my neck…but strangely changing my diet sorted that out!!
Sarah says
Oh no! Sorry to hear that the acupuncture wasn’t right for you! I’m glad to hear that things are going better since adopting an anti inflammatory diet though. I wish that was enough for us – it helped to get rid of his arthritis and most of his joint pain, but there are still a lot of other issues that it doesn’t seem to address…yet. I love how much food can impact our diets though – it feels very empowering to realize that we can improve things with what we eat!