Simple And Delicious Maple Walnut Granola

I’m a sucker for a good, homemade granola. This Maple Walnut Granola recipe is the perfect combination of sweet and crunchy and is super simple to make!

Granola is one of those “kitchen sink” kind of recipes. You can throw in almost anything that you’re in the mood for. Swap in your favorite nuts and seeds. Use whatever dried fruit that you have in your pantry. Anything goes!

But I do like the combination of pure Vermont maple syrup, toasted walnuts and chewy dates. There’s just something so winter-season about it! Plus a pinch of salt and a sprinkle of cinnamon makes those particular flavors pop like nothing else.

For me, a good granola has a couple of key components…

It’s gotta have a good texture. We’ve all dumped a handful of the grocery store granola onto yogurt and wondered why it has the texture of cardboard. #notcoolman

I like my granola to come in hot with the crunch factor. That requires the perfect ratio of oats and nuts, toasted to perfection! And for balance…a good granola has to have some chewy clusters from the addition of dried fruit. If those two textures aren’t there, I’m out!

Second, a good granola plays sweet and salty flavors off of each other. It can’t be too sweet. And definitely not too salty. Which is why I like to use pure, darker grade maple syrup and raw nuts (I’ll add my own salt). That deep combination of flavor makes this recipe in particular so addictive!

If you can put a checkmark next to each of those boxes:

✔️ crunchy and chewy

✔️sweet and salty

Then I’m in!

Maple Walnut Granola with Cinnamon and Dates

This is not the time or place for pancake syrup! There’s no time or place for that if you ask me but that’s another story. You want real deal, pure maple syrup. Mine is an (obviously), Vermont product – local and organic from a small town right down the road from me. I like to use dark maple syrup because it has such a rick, deep, maple flavor. I want that flavor to carry through!

p.s. pure maple syrup has some major health benefits. It’s high in antioxidants, zinc, magnesium, calcium and potassium, too.

I honestly used ingredients that I had on hand for this recipe, but you could take it in so many directions! Pecans and sunflower seeds would be great in here. You could use a different dried fruit (apples and figs or cranberries would be amazing). Don’t worry about hydration…you soak the fruit in maple syrup before adding it to the oats. You could even add shredded coconut or quinoa. Or dark chocolate (add once our of the oven and cool so it doesn’t melt).

The one thing I would highly suggest not changing is the ratio of dry ingredients to wet ingredients. This seems to be juuuuuuust the right amount of maple syrup to coat the oats and nuts but not make the final granola too sweet or saturated.

The only thing left to do is decide whether you want to snack on this granola with yogurt, or milk or just eat it by the handful!

Maple Walnut Granola with Cinnamon and Dates

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Ingredients

  

• 6 Medjool dates, pitted, chopped
• 3/4 cup dark maple syrup
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil cold pressed
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/4 cup almonds
• 2 tbsp hemp seeds
• 1/4 cup flax seeds
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• butter for baking sheet

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Line a baking sheet tray with parchment and lightly butter.
• Bring dates and maple syrup to a boil in a small sauce pan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring, 5-6 minutes to soften dates. Remove heat. Add olive oil and vanilla. Gently mash dates with a rubber spatula.
• In a large bowl combine dry ingredients: oats, nuts, seeds, salt and spices. Let sit 5 minutes.
• Using a rubber spatula, transfer granola to parchment-lined baking sheet. Spread evenly until you've got a thin layer ~1/2" thick. *You can also use another sheet of parchment to lay over top and gently press down to spread out with your hands.
• Bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven and stir, making sure to fold the edges in towards the center. Pat back down.
• Bake another 10 minutes. Repeat stirring and spreading.
• Bake a final 5-10 minutes, tenting with foil if your granola is getting too brown.
• Allow to cool completely before gently breaking into large chunks.