Sweetened with Maple Syrup, this granola spiced with gingerbread spices, makes for the perfect winter breakfast. This Gingerbread Granola will quickly become one of your winter favorites!
I feel like gingerbread has a reputation for only showing itself during Christmas time, when in fact all the warm spices that make up that gingerbread flavor, are all very much wintery flavors.
Cinnamon, ginger, cloves...sure that is the spice blend in most pumpkin and sweet potato desserts, and gingerbread, but I don't think of the holidays with those flavors; I picture winter time.
Winter to me are warm flavors, like the spices in this Gingerbread granola. Winter is also a roaring fire, with snow falling outside the window, while wrapped in a warm quilt, while enjoying a cup of hot chocolate.
Even though that winter is NOT the winter we experience here in Florida, that's winter to me. Since we can't have all those things, starting with the roaring fire, I'll stick to warm spices.
Granola is one of the easiest things that you can make. It's very hard to mess it up, if you have a good recipe. You want a recipe that has a good balance of moisture to dry ingredients. If you are mixing up a granola and notice that it's too wet, toss in more oats, because your odds are that it's going to flop.
This recipe has a good balance between the maple syrup that is used to sweeten this and the molasses which lends that to that classic gingerbread cookie flavor. I like to use blackstrap molasses in recipes that call for molasses, unless it specifies otherwise. I like that strong bold flavors that blackstrap molasses lends.
For my gingerbread granola I used two of my favorites when mixing up homemade granola; dried cranberries and pecans. You could go with raisins here, if you aren't a fan of cranberries. I just happen to like the sweet and sour combo that you get from adding the cranberries.
Pecans are always my choice of nut. It's one that has a mild flavor that tends to pair fairly well with a lot of different recipes, when calling for nuts. Of course you can use whatever nut you have in your pantry. Almonds would also be really good in this granola.
Ingredients for Gingerbread Granola:
- rolled oats
- pecans
- salt
- molasses
- maple syrup
- vanilla
- cinnamon
- ginger
- cloves
- olive oil
Additional Add-ins for Gingerbread Granola:
pumpkin seeds - chocolate chips - raisins - walnuts - almonds - toasted coconut
How long can you store Gingerbread Granola?
This granola can be store for up to 6 months in an air tight container, in a cool, dry place.
Anybody can make granola, and I have a recipe or two that I've shared with y'all in the past. I will link them at the bottom of this post, as well as my favorite gingerbread recipe.
Here are some of my favorite granola recipes:
Gingerbread Granola
Sweetened with Maple Syrup, this granola spiced with gingerbread spices, makes for the perfect winter breakfast. This Gingerbread Granola will quickly become one of your winter favorites!
Ingredients
- 3 ¼ cups rolled oats
- 1 ¾ cups pecans, halved
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ tablespoon cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ⅓ cup + 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, and set aside.
- In a small microwave safe bowl, add the olive oil, maple syrup, molasses and vanilla extract. Microwave for 30 seconds. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix well.
- Spread the mixture evenly onto a a large baking sheet and bake for 18–22 minutes, stirringat the halfway point..
- Once the granola is browned, remove from the oven and let cool completely on the pan before storing.
- Store in an air tight container for a few weeks.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 759Total Fat: 51gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 43gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 143mgCarbohydrates: 70gFiber: 12gSugar: 20gProtein: 13g
