Coconut Caramel Cookie Granola
Roots and Truth
A couple of weeks ago my husband, Curtis, mentioned to my 11 year old son, that he should have his mom teach him to make homemade granola. Scott (the 11 year old) loves granola as a dry snack, but he rarely cooks with me.
Like all of the ideas we’ve tried to feed him with this summer (haha, feed…no pun intended, this kid eats pretty good;), he ignored his dad and we continued the night by negotiating if he could watch another Stars Wars episode on Disney+.
I’ve really tried to stop giving my boys ideas of what to do. I always get a vocal “NO” from my eight year old and a shrug of the shoulders from Scott.
Ideas given freely have turned into a waist of my breath. I think they will be happy when we get into the school routine next week!
Curtis’s comment about granola reminded me that I hadn’t made my homemade recipe in a very long time!
We had planned a long road trip, so the weekend before we left I gathered up my supplies, set up a little photo shoot and started making my recipe.
Mae was quickly by my side and helped me through the whole process!
My boys haven’t loved to be in the kitchen by my side, but with Mae—a different child, a different story!
When I’m in the kitchen cooking, she is always by my side!
In this post I want to go over the reason I choose to make homemade granola. How I came up with the recipe and go into some of the reasons why I use some of these ingredients.
My goal,
always, is to help the reader see
the more we can incorporate “whole foods” while feeding ourselves and our families,
we will begin to recognize the impacts it has on our health in positive ways! Not only our health, but the health of our community.
How would I define “Whole Food”?
When I was growing up I had many opportunities to be in the kitchen, cooking with my mom as she prepared food for growing family. We had a basic granola recipe that my mom always used. It was in a spiral bound book made by member of our church community. I remember my mom’s pencil markings. They were on most of her recipes. When she would change the recipe slightly, she would make a note with a pencil, so she remembered how she adapted it the next time she pulled the recipe out.
Most of her recipes were written to double the recipe. There was eight of us! That is a lot of mouths to feed! The recipe on this post, fits in one sheet pan. I’m pretty sure my mom’s original/expanded recipe fit in three sheet pans.
Granola Upgraded with Clean Ingredients
Coconut Oil
In the following recipe I choose to use coconut oil instead of other less expensive vegetable oils because I believe it benefits the body, aiding in cellular health. There are other health benefits from coconut oil such as:
Coconut oil has antibacterial properties. This aids in gut health and oral health!
To learn more do a quick good search: The Benefits of Coconut Oil and let me know what you learned in the comments below!!
Coconut
In the coconut meat (and in coconut oil) there is a fatty acid called lauric acid, and in this fatty acid there is another compound called monolaurin? I learned about monolaurin years ago, at the beginning of my health journey. It was promoted as an antiviral compound and I bought in a capsule. The cool thing about monolaurin is it is extracted from the coconut, so when you eat the blended up coconut in this recipe, this granola has an antiviral monolaurin in it.
Not only is Monolaurin and antiviral, but it has been studied and shown signs of fighting off harmful bacteria (bacteria that creates infections in the body).
It is an anti fungal as well. (Fungus is the underlying cause of yeast infections). 1
Honey
When it comes to sugar, I believe that all sugars are not created equal! I have been struggeling with blood sugar issues for years now, and I have found that the simple sugars contained in honey, digest quickly and tend to not elevate my blood sugar. The sugar is the type of sugar I have needed to keep my blood sugar levels steady!
This is a true, but not a common teaching about the body: Healthy blood sugar levels need sugar!!
I choose to use honey often, and use it in this recipe, piggybacking on the idea that honey it is a whole food! A miracle food! It’s a food in its natural state. (No processing involved.)
Pure Maple Syrup
Did you know that pure maple syrup contain vitamins like riboflavin (which is used in the stages of red cell production to keep us healthy)!!! Maple syrup also contains thiamin. Which helps strengthen our immune system!2
It also contains minerals like zinc, copper and manganese. Although pure maple syrup contains sugar, magnese plays a role a crucial role in fat and carbohydrate metabolism, calcium absorption, blood sugar regulation, and brain and nerve function. 3 It is so nice that nature’s food has minerals in them that aid the body in blood sugar regulation!!
Cinnamon
Cinnamon has the properties of being a blood sugar balancer as well. I personally love the taste and the smell! There is only 1/4 teaspoon in the recipe so the cinnamon flavor is an enhancer to the flavor, but doesn’t take over.
Beginning the Process of Making Granola
How to Make Coconut Butter
My older sister introduced me to coconut butter a few years back.
The first time she tried making it she did it by pouring a bag or shredded coconut in the food processor and turned on the food processor and and let it do its thing!
Shredded coconut is the coconut meat!
She watched the shreds spin around and get chopped up. After a couple of minutes the oils in the shredded coconut warmed and the shreds were broken up enough, everything emulsified together and made this amazing off-white spreadable butter.
She was amazed, so the next time we talked on the phone she made sure to tell me about it!
I don’t have a great food processor, so I decided to give coconut butter a try with my Blendtec.
I have a small blender jar, by Blendtec, that has a lid with spatulas attached. When I tried making coconut butter for the first time, using this jar, my coconut butter was created in seconds instead of minutes!
A cup of coconut, makes approximately a 1/3 cup of coconut butter.
I understand that not everyone has a small blender jar, so here are a few other suggestions that I have to make coconut butter.
- If you are using a food processor I would add at least three cups of shredded-unsweetened coconut to the food processor, maybe more. Making it in bigger batches will ensure that all of the coconut will get blended easily. You may need to turn your food processor off and scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula and process it again. Repeat this step until the coconut butter is smooth.
- If you have a Vitamix, using the plunger to move the coconut around the blender jar will make the process of making coconut butter so easy. A suggestion is to use two to three cups of unsweetened-shredded coconut. Make a larger batch than needed, then store the extra in a sealed container at room temperature. It should stay fresh for a couple of weeks!
You can also do a quick youtube search on how to make coconut butter!
Can You Buy Coconut Butter At The Store?
Yes!
Coconut butter can be found at most health-food stores. It would either be on the shelf by the coconut oil. Or it could be on the shelf by the nut butters and peanut butter.
It can also be found online at a favorite store where you do your buy other supplements or health-relate products!
How to Make Coconut Caramel
Curtis and kids don’t love coconut. I think it’s a texture thing, but they really love this recipe. It helps to grind the coconut up to hide it!
After the coconut butter is made (or bought), it takes just a few minutes to stir the caramel sauce together. Use a small bowl, or a jar to mix stir the ingredients in.
I stirred my sauce together in an old salsa jar. I use these jars when I mix up a quick salad dressing or in this case for a small batch of sauce.
In the jar I added the coconut butter, the honey, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and cinnamon. After I’ve stirred all of those ingredients together I add some melted unrefined coconut oil and stir to combine.
Some of My Favorite Ways To Enjoy My Favorite Granola
I mentioned at the begining of my post that we were preparing for a road trip.
Eating foods in closest to their whole state is not as easy while traveling! The easiest ways I’ve found to eat whole foods on the road is in the form of fruits and vegetables such as bananas, apples, baby carrots, cucumbers. But these easy to grab foods don’t provide enough energy for me to sustain myself.
So this time while we were traveling we packed my freshly-made batch of granola and these are the ways I incorporated in in my meals!
Hot Oatmeal + Raisins + Granola
Additional note: I always pack dried fruit while traveling. This time I packed dried mangos and raisins. They have more condensed calories that I need for energy and they make a great car snack.
Whole Fat Vanilla Yogurt + Berries from my Garden + Granola
Bananas + Nut Butter + Granola
Smoothie Bowl + Granola
I feel so grateful to share this recipe with you! I started making granola when I was a pre-teen. With the additional information that I have leaned about utilizing the minerals, fats, grains and fruits that are close their created form, I would now like to share my NEW and IMPROVED granola recipe!
This is not NEW to my family (here in my home), but this is the first time I have written it down!
Thanks for being here friends!
Coconut Caramel Cookie Granola
Ingredients
- 1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
- OR 1/3 cup coconut butter
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons purt maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- A pinch of sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons unrefined coconut oil, melted
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup nuts of your choosing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees fahrenheit.
- Put the shredded coconut in a small blender jar, or food processor. (If using a food processor you may need three or 4 cups of shredded coconut to get it to process correctly. Save the remainder of the coconut butter for another batch of granola on another day. This is shelf stable and will store for a couple of months.)
- Blend or process the coconut until it is all combined into a semi-smooth texture. It will still be course, but the oils will start to blend together.*
- If using a pre-made jar of coconut butter measure out 1/3 cup of coconut butter into a small bowl.
- To the coconut butter add the honey, maple syrup, vanilla, sea salt and cinnamon. Stir.
- Measure the coconut oil into the same small bowl. Stir to combine.
- In a separate medium-sized bowl measure out the rolled oats and one cup of nuts of your choosing.
- Pour the coconut caramel combination into the bowl with the rolled oats and nuts. Stir until all of the dry ingredients are moist.
- Place parchment or a silicone pad a baking sheet pan. Pour the wet granola mixture onto the prepared baking sheet pan.
- Place the pan in a preheated oven. (If your oven overbakes things often, turn the tempature down to 275 degrees F.) Set the timer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes stir the granola mixture. Move it around the pan. Place back in the oven and bake another 20 minutes.
- After the second baking time, I take it out of the oven and the kids usually munch on it like a warm cookie. I let it cool on the counter. When it is cool, if the granola is still chewy, I preheat the oven again, place it back in the oven and cook it for another 10 minutes. The granola needs to be completely dried out!
- Store the cooled, dry, crunchy granola in an airtight container. It is shelf stable for a week. If you don’t consume it that week stick it in the freezer and pull it out when you want to eat it again.
- Out of the freezer: To refresh the flavor and to make it crunchy again, bake it for 10 minutes, on a baking sheet, at 300 degrees F
Notes
*Do you have a tool, like a blender or a food processor that will process the shredded coconut into coconut butter? Let me know in the comments below!
In the granola in the picture, I used chopped pecans because that’s what I had on hand. I really love to use sliced almonds. I often add a combination of nuts and sunflower seeds!
Resources
I would like to highlight a post on making homemade coconut butter by Posh Plate (recipe by Jillian).
Photo credit of the coconut butter given to Posh Plate as well (https://poshplate.us/easy-homemade-coconut-butter/)
I began my researching the minerals in foods while my health was declining in 2015-2016. You can read more about that story in this post: The Beginning of My Health Journey
Nicely done sounds yummy!
Thanks for reading it! I’m so hoping your transition will go smoothly once you figure everything out!!😘