Soft-Baked Carrot Cake Granola
This soft and chewy carrot cake granola is spiced with cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg and packed with toasted pecans, coconut, and raisins-- everything you love about a fully-loaded carrot cake in a bowl.
Servings: 12 ¼-cup servings
Ingredients
- 2 and ½ cups (200g) old-fashioned oats do not use quick oats1
- ½ cup (57g) coarsely chopped nuts I prefer pecans
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 and ½ cups (148g) grated carrots2 approximately 2-3 large carrots
- ½ cup (168g) honey
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (42.5g) sweetened shredded coconut
- ½ cup (85g) raisins
Need to keep track of your ingredients?Check out my Printable Ingredient List!
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250ºF (121ºC). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, then set it aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together the oats, chopped nuts, spices, and salt until thoroughly combined. Add the shredded carrots and mix until the carrots are evenly dispersed. Set this mixture aside.2 and ½ cups (200g) old-fashioned oats, ½ cup (57g) coarsely chopped nuts, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon allspice, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 and ½ cups (148g) grated carrots2
- In a medium size bowl, whisk together the honey, coconut oil, and vanilla extract until smooth. You may need to heat mixture briefly in microwave if honey and/or coconut oil are not soft. Once the mixture is smooth, pour it evenly over the oat mixture and mix together to coat everything.½ cup (168g) honey, ⅓ cup melted coconut oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pour the granola onto the prepared baking sheet and spread it out evenly over entire surface. The mixture will be quite wet and sticky, but this is ok.
- Bake the granola for 15 minutes, stir, bake another 15 minutes, stir again, bake for a third round of 15 minutes, stir once again and then add the shredded coconut.½ cup (42.5g) sweetened shredded coconut
- Stir the mixture to disperse the coconut, then bake for an additional 30 minutes. Allow granola to cool completely-- the air will help the granola crisp up. Toss in the raisins once the mixture is cool. Granola will remain fresh in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 weeks. Granola freezes well, up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.½ cup (85g) raisins
Video
Notes
- Oats: do not use quick oats-- they will turn to mush. Use certified gluten-free oats if you'd like to keep this recipe gluten free.
- Shredded carrots: I recommend shredding the carrots yourself, using a box grater or the grater attachment on a food processor. Pre-shredded carrots are usually too much of a "stick" for this recipe, and the blade in the food processor will make the carrot pieces too small.
- Optional ingredients: not feeling the coconut or raisins? You can omit them. You can also toss in any add-ins you like at the end such as golden raisins, dried cranberries, or even white chocolate chips to mimic cream cheese frosting.
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
Serving: 1cup | Calories: 234kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 121mg | Potassium: 203mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 2677IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1mg
