Paleo Granola Recipe (2024)

By Irena Macri
|Published: Feb 11, 2013
|Updated: Feb 21, 2024
|108 Comments

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This paleo granola recipe is from my Eat Drink Paleo Cookbook. It’s one of my oldest, most-loved creations and is very popular with my readers. I love it with a little almond or coconut milk and coconut yoghurt and seasonal fruit.

My Favourite Paleo Granola

I live with someone who is addicted to cereal and granola. I mean not just in the morning, but as a snack before bed too. I don’t really like having sugar-loaded, processed granola in the house so I decided to make up my own paleo version using more nutrient-dense ingredients and natural sweeteners.

I like to make a big batch on the weekend, which usually lasts for a week or so as we don’t have granola daily anymore. This recipe is suitable to those avoiding grains and gluten, following a plant-based diet or just looking to eat a little cleaner. On winter mornings, I like to make a paleo porridge instead.

How To Make This Paleo Granola

I often use a variety of nuts and seeds in this recipe and a different type of dried fruit. Some nuts and seeds contain fairly high amounts of omega-6 fatty acids. Macadamia nuts have the lowest amount but can be quite expensive.

My rule is to have plenty of omega-3-rich foods to compensate and to create a healthy ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids in our diet. We have granola every third day instead of making it a daily breakfast meal.

If you have the time, you might like to ‘activate’ the nuts and seeds to reduce the phytic acid content. Phytic acid decreases the absorption of minerals in the food consumed and it just so happens that nuts and seeds are fairly high in it. Most plants have phytic acid in them so it’s not a huge issue but you have to be aware and ideally learn how to prepare certain ingredients.

To reduce the phytic acid you have to soak the nuts and seeds in water with a little salt for 4-6 hours. I use different bowls for different nuts and seeds. Then, rinse and pat dry the nuts with a paper towel and spread them in a thin layer on a baking tray or two. Pop in the oven to dehydrate the nuts and seeds back to dried using very low temperature (65-70° C / 150° F) for 3-4 hours, stirring a couple of times.

Having said all that, most of you probably don’t have the time to do all of that so just enjoy your granola with regular nuts and seeds and limit to eating it a couple of times per week.

This paleo granola is baked in the oven for that extra crispy finish. While it’s baking hot, the natural sweeteners stick the mixture together creating those perfect grain-free muesli clumps.

More Paleo Breakfast Recipes

Serve this paleo granola with coconut or almond milk or coconut yoghurt, coconut cream or natural full-fat yoghurt and fresh berries or fruit on top. I often take a handful in a ziplock bag as a snack on the go. Store in an airtight container or a Mason jar. A friend of mine keeps it in the fridge and says it lasts longer.

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Paleo Granola Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Author: Irena Macri

Servings: 10

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: European

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4.90 from 19 votes

Calories: 383kcal

This delicious and nutrient-dense paleo granola is one of my most popular recipes and much loved by the readers. Make a big batch and keep for 2-3 weeks or even longer in the fridge. Serve with dairy-free milk or yoghurt of choice and some fruit and berries.

Ingredients

▢ 3 cups mixed nuts almonds, hazelnuts, macadamia and brazil nuts
▢ 2/3 cup dried fruit plums, dried cherries, cranberries, apricots, figs or dates
▢ 1/2 cup pepitas pumpkin seeds
▢ 2/3 cup desiccated coconut unsweetened
▢ 1/2 cup coconut flakes if you have them
▢ 2 tablespoons maple syrup
▢ 2 tablespoons honey rice malt syrup, maple syrup or coconut syrup can also be used
▢ 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
▢ Optional but very nice: zest of 1 orange
▢ 1 tablespoon coconut oil or ghee
▢ 1 tablespoon chia seeds
▢ You will need a food processor or some other way to break the nuts into smaller crumbs

Instructions

Preheat oven to 165° C (330° F).
Add two and a half cups of whole nuts (reserve the rest as whole nuts) and the dried fruit to a food processor. Process the mixture into medium size crumbs, some of it will turn into finer flour/meal like consistency but that's what we want - a variety of shapes and sizes. Transfer to a large bowl.
Add the remaining whole nuts and the rest of the ingredients, excluding chia seeds. Mix well and use a wooden spoon or a spatula to break down the clumps which will form when coconut oil and honey come into contact with dry ingredients. It's okay if some of them remain unbroken.
Grease a large baking tray with some coconut oil or ghee and line it with baking paper, making sure the sides are covered. Spoon the mix into the tray and flatten with a spatula.
Bake in three stages. First, bake for about 12 minutes and then stir the mix as the top would have browned by now. Then, bake for 8-10 minutes and stir again. Finally, bake for the last 4-5 minutes.
Remove and let it cool completely. The mixture should have turned crispy and dark golden brown.
Finally, add chia seeds and transfer to an air-tight container. You can leave it out of the fridge for a few days but it will keep longer, for up to two weeks, if you refrigerate it.

Nutrition

Keywords: Grain-Free, Granola, Snacks, Kid-friendly, Breakfast

Tried this recipe?Mention @cookedandloved or tag #cookedandloved

By Irena Macri

About the author: Hi, I’m Irena Macri. I share delicious recipes that I have cooked and loved. I am a published cookbook author, have been food blogging for over 10 years and have a Diploma in Nutrition. You will find many healthy recipes as well as my favourite comfort food. More about me here | Subscribe to my newsletter and freebies

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Comments

108 Comments

Oh yes please! I really miss my morning cereal so this is awesome. I totally emphathise with your husband – giving up something is easier if there is an awesome alternative like this 🙂
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Breakfast is the o0ne meal i really struggle with. Most mornings I am lucky if I have more than a soup sized mug of coffee, and then by mid afternoon I am picking at crap food. I am definitely going to give this a whirl. Love the idea of having it with some natural yogurt.
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Any tips as to how to keep it longer?? Would love to have this on hand for the mornings I don’t have time for anything else – so would need to store for longer. Could I freeze and then pop under grill to thaw and recrispen do you think?
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1. Hi Karen, I haven’t tried freezing but we’ve had ours in an air-tight plastic container, on baking paper for over a week easy. You can probably keep it in the fridge for even longer than that. Irena
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Hi Irena, can you use activated nuts for the entire recipe. Is it OK to bake activated nuts, shouldnt they be raw? I buy the 2diefor almonds and pecans, hazels etc. thank you, U.
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1. Hi Untony,
  Yep, you can certainly bake activated nuts.You might not have as much live enzymes post baking but you will still benefit from less antinutrients in the nuts, which are removed during the soaking process.You can always mix in a few raw, activated nuts into the baked mixture and get the best of both worlds.
  Irena
  Reply
Yum! Just made it, love it! Great for my 3 year old too, get lots of nuts into her and she really likes it. Thanks
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1. Hey Jess, good to hear. I’m making another batch for our household today. Got lots of different nuts soaked and dehydrated during the week and picked up some dried apricot and figs as well. I think this one will be a killer!
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This is the best ever, even better than regular granola! Thanks for sharing.
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1. Thanks Neila, I’m glad you liked it. I made another huge batch for the family last night and I think the whole street could smell it.
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  1. must have been a good night for your neighbors!
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Hi,
I just discovered your site and love it! Is there a print button that will let me just print the recipes?
Rebekah
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1. Hi Rebekah, the print button is just above the post, under the main title on the left of the share tools.
  Enjoy!
  Irena
  See Also
  Almost Zero Carb Holiday Recipes 17 Best Christmas BBQ Ideas & Recipes (Grilling, Smoking & More)Mushroom Cauliflower Rice Skillet Recipe 27 Delicious Vegan Keto Recipes For Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner!
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Wowzers! I made this tonight. Absolutely delicious!! The orange zestis the icing on this recipe. I only have half a batch left now….there will be none left by the time breakfast comes. Nom nom nom. Thank you
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very excited to try this — but how much would you say is a serving size? (i know, i know, til i’m full. but i need to start out with serving sizes or else i get tempted to eat and eat and eat… 😉 thanks!
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1. Hey Sher,
  It depends on what else you have it with. I usually have it with some unsweetened full fat yogurt and berries, and my typical serving is 2/3 cup of yogurt, 1/2 cup granola, 5 strawberries and I also recommend having a boiled egg for extra protein. My partner has a bit more and I add some sliced banana for him as well. I hope that helps 🙂
  Irena
  Reply
OMG! The best granola ever!!! so yummy
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Hi there
Just wondering Is the 2 cups of hazelnuts etc 2 cups all together or 2 cups of each nut? Probably a silly question but I just wanted to besure
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1. 2 cups altogether 🙂 You can have more nuts if you want to make a bigger batch, just increase the other ingredients.
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Can anyone please tell me the calorie, carb, fiber, sugar, protein content of this per serving?
Thank you!
=]
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Okay…I literally HAD to leave a comment. HAD TO. This was something I pinned awhile ago deeming “one day I’ll make this” and never did. Finally, I needed some good pack along recipes for a trip, and I made this and boy have I sure been missing out! I made some substitutions for what I had, but this is THE BEST THING I’VE EVER EATEN. I have missed cereal so much since going paleo, and this allows me to indulge a little! So happy I found this recipe! Thank you! It is SO delicious! Even my non-paleo friends who make fun of me couldn’t stop munching on it! (ps. I added cinnamon and it was delicious!)
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Thank you ….we all love your granola! My only change from the original recipe is that I use less coconut oil as I found half a cup to be a little oily. Love the addition of the zest of an orange! With homemade natural yoghurt , this granola is worth getting out of bed for!!
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Instead of baking it, can it be dehydrated? If so, at what temp and for how long? Thanks
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1. You could try dehydrating it but they granola won’t have that lovely smoky, roasted flavour it gets from higher temperature. I’m not sure how long as I don’t know if there is a specific temperature you’re trying to not go over , say like in a raw diet. If it’s at 75 C, I would say 5-6 hours maybe. Maybe make a small batch and give it a go. I would be interested to find out if turns out crunchy. Irey
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Hi there,
I love this granola on yogurt but I only put in half the dried fruit and add 2 big teaspoons of cinnamon. It is soooooo good!
Thanks heaps for posting!
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Hi! This recipe is sooooooo good. Thanks for sharing 🙂 Has helped solve my paleo breaky dilemmas!. So happy to have found your website as I am in NZ and your recipes all have components that are easily accessible even here in NZ. Will definitely be trying more!
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1. Nice to meet you virtually!
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We made this granola yesterday and have just eaten it for breakfast! Absolutely delicious! Next time we’ll use slightly less coconut oil as we found it a tad too oily but both really impressed with it, especially considering it was our first attempt! Really easy to make and has definitely given us a tasty breakfast addition instead of always eating bacon and eggs. We added in pecan nuts and this worked really well. Thank you for sharing this recipie!
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Thank you for share this granola recipe.
It’s very delicius and its taste and solidity is the same that the “real cereal granola”!!
My sons and my husband have appreciated this recipe although they don’t eat paleo.
Great!!
Bye
Claudia from Italy
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Thank you for share this recipe.
The taste and the solidity are the same that “ceral granola”.
My sons and my husbund have appreciated this recipe although they don’t eat paleo.
Great!
Bye
Claudia from Italy
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Thank you for this recipe. I LOVE IT! new to paleo and missing my cereals this is fantastic.
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Just made your granola (with slight variations) and I’m addicted! It’s SOOO much better than anything store-bought! I used 3 tbsp coconut sugar and 2 tbsp maple syrup for the sweet, chopped dates for the fruit and added sunflower seeds just for fun. I will DEFINITELY be making this again, if I can just stop myself from gobbling it down too quickly!
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Hi, just wondering why you cant eat the granola every day. What will it do if you did? Is it bad if you don’t soak your nuts?
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1. See my answer to your other comment about phytic acid. I would avoid granola every day simply because it’s a little higher in carbs and natural sugars than say eggs and avocado and yeah, too much nuts and seeds is not ideal as a lot of them also contain high amount of Omega-6 fatty acids which is inflammatory. If you counter balance that with lots of Omega-3 fatty acids (oily fish, grass fed meat, leafy greens, free range eggs, chia seeds and supplements) the you can get away with more Omega-6 rich foods. I prefer to have granola a couple of times a week or use it sparingly on top of some berries, fruit and yogurt. Eggs, spinach and smoked salmon are still my favourite for breaky.
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another thing is it only the pumpkin seeds that need to be soaked or is that all nuts?
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1. I try to soak most of the nuts and seeds I buy as the soaking removes phytic acid, which is an antinutrient that prevents mineral absorption. It’s not always practical as it’s time consuming but if you’re doing a big batch, then you might as well. You can use some of the soaked/dehydared nuts and seeds in the granola and store the rest for snacking and other recipes.
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Hello is this completely gluten free?
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1. Yes, all recipes on this website are completely gluten free 🙂
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This is without doubt the best granola I’ve ever had. Definitely recommend people to try this at least once.
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1. Thanks Jen 🙂
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Just made this! Love it : ) It nearly didn’t make it into the oven. So good!!!
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1. Just made this recipe, alongside paleo falafel and paleo bacon and eggs muffins, we are set for the week. It tastes so good, not sure it will last long. Thanks for the recipe, totally loved it!!!
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  1. Paleo falafel??? I need me some of that. Might have to develop a recipe 🙂
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Just tried it and can’t keep away from it!! The kids too are digging in all the time, thanks for such a wonderful recipe
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Thank you for this recipe, without a doubt the best most tasty breakfast recipe ever! This recipe is spreading around like wildfire in Brisbane, Australia here. Thanks for introducing my husband to a healthy alternative, he loves it and is making it himself now! Unheard of! Cheers
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1. You’re welcome!
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Oh my! Just made this! I am so so excited about breakfast tomorrow!
Thank you so much for such an amazing recipe 🙂 keep up the amazing work x
See Also
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If people don’t have a food processor, they can put the nuts into a freezer/sandwich bag and then bash them with a rolling pin or equivalent! Worked for me 🙂
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Should the nuts be salted or unsalted?
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1. Unsalted 🙂
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After two years of no cereal I’ve been really craving it lately. I will definitely have to try this!
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Has this recipe been edited recently? I have made this a few times now and i am sure it had almond meal in last time.. could be wrong but could someone confirm?
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1. Hi Charlotte,
  I can’t remember if there was almond meal in this before but I do amend recipes slightly if I make it better. I know I’ve reduced the amount of coconut oil required and tried to streamline ingredients needed but I make it without almond meal and it’s as good as it’s always been. If almond meal worked for you, feel free to add it but since we grind the nuts anyway, you will find that some of them will turn into a nut meal like crumbs anyway. I hope that helps.
  Irena
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Do you have the nutritional information on the granola and how much a serve weighs ? I have made it for the second time after activating my own nuts and it is seriously one of the best granolas I have ever tasted , I can’t stop eating it
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1. Haha, yes I know that feeling. I don’t the exact nutritional info but I should punch into a nutritional analyzer and see. I usually have about 1/2 cup with yoghurt, coconut yoghurt or coconut milk and 1/2 cup of berries or other fruit. My partner will have a bit more as he is bigger and more active.
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Until very recently you had a great little tool on your website that would allow me to enter a food item and it would then tell me if the item fit on the Paleo diet. It was so handy that I bookmarked your website and used it several times a week. I don’t see this anymore. Am I missing it? And thank you for that, by the way. It has been so helpful.
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1. Hi Catherine,
  We’re going through a website redesign and phase 1 was to migrate the site to a new content management service. We had to remove the module for now as it wasn’t supported but we will include it back in when we go live with the new website. Soon! Good to know you found it useful.
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Hi,
Were there alterations made to this recipe? I made it a year ago and it didn’t have maple syrup in it but it had some almond meal in it. It also used to be sweeter. Do you still have that recipe? I really liked that one and I’m bummed I didn’t write it down. Thanks.
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1. Hi Tara, it might have had honey the first time I made it but as I make it every few weeks, I constantly experiment. You can use either maple, honey or rice malt syrup as long as it’s sweet and sticky. Add an extra tablespoon to make it sweeter. I removed almond meal to simplify the recipe as it wasn’t really adding anything exciting and it was an extra ingredient people would have to buy. But of course you can add 3-4 tbsp to the mix if that rocked for you. I always say, I give you the foundation and you can make it your own. 🙂
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Hi, love this muesli recipe! You don’t happen to have the calorie value per serve do you?
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1. Not really but you can plug in all the ingredients into a nutritional calculator on a few different sites (just Google for it) and you can get an approximate calories.
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Can I use butter instead of coconut oil or ghee?
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1. Yes, you will have to melt it slightly.
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Thanks for the recipe! Have you tried TheMondayFoodCo’s Paleo Granola, it’s scrummy.
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After recently trying a market bought granola I was in love. This recipe was pretty much the same as it. I love this recipe and it is now my go to granola recipe. It is easy and so tasty. I mix it with natural yogurt. I am not paleo so I sometimes add oats to make it go further. Yummy!
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This is seriously the BEST muesli! I’m just making it for the 4th or so time, activated nuts and all, been at it all day. I make it a little different each time and just LOVE it to pieces. It’s the crispy crunch in my day 🙂 Thank you!
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1. Thank you Char 🙂
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hi, can you leave out the maple as we are sugarfree/low sugar
thanks
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1. Yes, although it won’t get that nice stickiness to it.
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  1. Could you do extra honey instead of the maple?
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    1. Yes, if you like.
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How much coconut oil do you add? It says a dollop but want to know exactly. Thanks.
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1. About a tablespoon.
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That converts to a lot of sugar per serve!
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1. Hence I don’t recommend having this granola daily 🙂
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Hello Irina,
I was wondering why you recommend to have a granola breakfast every third day and not daily?
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1. Hi Del,
  This granola, as are most granolas, is still quite dense in carbohydrates and also heavy on nuts. Nuts, although full of other beneficial nutrients, are usually quite high in Omega-6 fatty acids which are pro-inflammatory in large amounts so I always consume my nuts in moderation. Carbs and sugar is something that is more individual, if you’re super active then you can have something like this granola daily. I also like to have more variety on weekly basis, so having eggs or something else every other day, ensures that I get a balanced intake of different vitamins and minerals.
  Irena
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We love this granola as well! We’ve made it four times in total now and during this last time, added the orange zest which has now become a must-do step!! Yum! Just wondering if you knew this calorie content for a serving?
Thanks so much,
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Oh my gosh – this was amazing! I took it with me to a breakfast where everyone else was eating sad, boxed cereal and people commented from the first time I opened the container about how amazing it smelled. They all wanted some! I will be making this a LOT I can tell. Thank you so much!
(I used cashews, slivered almonds and walnuts for the nuts and a mix of pineapple juice-sweetened dried fruits. AMAZING!)
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OMG amazing!!!! Smelt like Christmas coming out of the oven – I think in part perhaps the cinnamon I added in combine with currants. Loved the Orange zest too. I know already that I’ll make this again. Thanks so much!
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1. Thanks Jill. Glad you enjoyed it. Irena
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Hi there, I discovered this today and LOVE it!! Can you tell me if it can be frozen? I am thinking into small zip lock bags to take out and eat if I don’t eat it all within 2 weeks.
Thanks
Louise
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1. Hi Louise, I have never heard of freezing granola so I really can’t say how it would work. However, you can refrigerate it and it will last for longer. I saw a friend keep a batch in her fridge.
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We made a batch of this & it’s so so delicious! It has the crunch of cereal I’ve missed that most paleo granola recipes I’ve tried so far haven’t had. Thank you Irena!
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1. Thanks Emma. You’re welcome!
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i have this in the oven at the moment. It smells delicious!!
I’m not sure I’ll get through it all in 2 weeks…do you think it would be ok to freeze?
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This s the BESTEST BESTER BEST granola ever!!!!!
After eating cereals for breakfast for over 30 years (the only thing my sleepy stomach could deal with), I had to change my diet to wheat-free because of digestive issues. After trying out multiple different products and recipes, this is the yummiest and filling of all!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe and so many other recipes!!
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1. Thanks Inez 🙂 Glad you like it so much. It’s definitely a favourite with many readers.
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I have made this recipe a few times and love it! I have not added the orange zest previously, but thought this time I would give it a try… and spoiled the whole batch 🙁 vanilla/cinnamon were yum, orange – not!
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This looks awesome. I’m getting some (lots) of recipes together to start living Paleo and my husband is the same, he loves his cereal so this will really help.
I’m still doing my homework as I don’t want to start and get it wrong. I’m a bit confused about the whole dairy thing, are we allowed it or not? In particular yoghurt is it okay to have? Is butter okay?
The other thing I’m confused about is do we have to count calories?
I’m loving everything I’m seeing on your site, can’t wait to try out the recipes.
Aileen
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It would be nice if the portion size and calorie count would be included
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Wow! Thank-you for this recipe! This is so much more amazing than I ever could’ve imagined. I used the nuts I had on hand-
almonds, cashews, walnuts and threw in some sunflower seeds for good measure. I’m not sure this will last as long as recommended ?
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1. Thank you Amy 🙂 Glad you liked it. I know what you mean about it not lasting very long 😉
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Hi Irena, My whole family really enjoyed your paleo granola. I found myself constantly grabbing a clump of granola during my day. We all say tasty, tasty, tasty. Thank you great recipe.
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1. Thanks Deborah! It is a little bit dangerous like that 😉
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This is my favorite granola recipe ever, hands down! I’m getting ready for international travel, so I am going to make a batch. I’ll freeze half for my return and take the other half for health breakfasts abroad.
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1. Thank you! Freezing is such a great idea, why haven’t I ever done that???
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It looks SO good. I can see why it’s your favorite! I appreciate the care you took with the instructions and all the details!
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I’m all about granola for breakfast – or nap time mom snack. 😉 This looks so yummy!
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I miss cereal in the mornings! I wonder how long this would last in my house. My kids can easily eat an entire box of cereal in one morning.
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I can not handle granola! I bought some recently for the first times in years and ate over a kilo in 2 days. All by myself. :/ It’s just TOO good to handle! Yours looks especially dangerous. 😉
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I also activate the nuts for granola recipes because if you’re going to the effort to make it, you might as well make it as good for you as possible. Thanks for walking me through this so it turns out perfectly!
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This Paleo Granola is going to be great, not only as breakfast but as a snack on the go!
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This looks fantastic and love how grain free granola is so much better than anything I ever made with oats! I really love the sounds of the orange zest so I definitely need to try it that way!
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Love a good grain free granola! This is amazing on my morning coconut yogurt!
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1. Thanks 🙂
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this looks fabulous for breakfast and snack time! I’d like to stash a little bag full in my gym bag! thanks for sharing
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With my busy schedule, I think I may have to make this be my on the go snack. Not sure it will last long with the kids 🙂
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