Homemade Gluten Free Granola with Agave

My daughter and I were trying to buy granola last week.  I needed gluten free and she was looking for low sugar.  Guess what?  That’s a very uncommon combo.  In fact, it didn’t exist in our grocery store.   So we decided to be adventurous and make our own.  Why haven’t I ever thought of this before?  It was super easy, fun and SO YUMMY!  I’m eating it as fast as I can because I can’t wait to make it again, this time with different add-ins. 

This is our basic recipe:

3 cups rolled oats

1 cup slivered almonds

1/2 cup shredded coconut

½ cup ground flaxseed

1 cup applesauce

1/3 cup agave nectar

2 Tbs canola oil

1 tsp gf vanilla

½ tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 300 F.  Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment.  Mix the first 4 ingredients together in a large bowl.  Mix the rest of the ingredients together, then add to the bowl of dry.  Toss well, trying to moisten everything.  Spread onto pans.  Bake, pulling the pans out every 10 minutes or so to stir the granola so it won’t burn.  Bake for a total of 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown.  Let cool, then store in a Ziploc bag or sealed container.  If it’s going to be around more than a few days, you might want to store it in the fridge.

The cool thing about this recipe is that you can change it up, but it’s very hard to mess it up.  You can add dried fruits (raisins, apricots, pineapple, cranberries), chocolate or peanut butter chips or M&Ms, just make sure to add them after the granola has cooled.  You can also use any combination of nuts or seeds.  The next batch I make I want to try sunflower kernels and raisins.  Or maybe pumpkin seeds (pepitas) and Craisins.  Oh, wait...chocolate chips with walnuts.  The possibilities are endless!