Cranberry Almond Oat-Free Granola

So this oat-free granola recipe happened by accident — one of those really good accidents when you end up with something awesome instead of the other awesome thing you were trying to make... I was trying to come up with a granola bar that was entirely oat-free and I wanted to try something other than quinoa flakes, which is normally my go-to when it comes to replacing oats. Well, turns out I didn't crumble the ingredients finely enough and the bars ended up more like granola crumble. I was a bit disappointed at first, so instead of reaching for the camera to snatch a picture as I normally do, I sat down with said bowl in hand and began to munch. The moment I put that stuff in my mouth I couldn't believe how awesome it was. I think this is hands down THE BEST granola I've ever had!

Cranberry Almond Oat-Free Granola

Print Recipe

• Author: Audrey @ Unconventional Baker
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 3 ½ cups granola

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups corn flake-like cereal (I used Mesa Sunrise cereal by Nature's Path, but you can use anything that resembles corn flakes — make sure it's GF though)
• ½ cup dried cranberries (I used ones that are maple syrup sweetened)
• ½ cup toasted almonds, coarsely chopped
• ¼ cup coconut oil
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• dash of salt

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Instructions

1. Place cereal in a large mixing bowl and crush all the flakes until they are coarsely crumbled (I used a measuring cup to crush the flakes). Add in cranberries and almonds and mix together. Set aside.
2. Place all remaining ingredients in a glass bowl and melt together by using a double boiler. Stir to blend ingredients together once everything is melted. Pour over the granola mixture and mix everything together quite thoroughly.
3. Lay out on a parchment paper lined tray and refrigerate for 20 minutes or more to cool the granola off. Transfer to a glass jar or an air-tight container.

Notes

Use in cereals, porridge, on non-dairy yogurt, or munch on it with a spoon (my favorite way ;) ).

If you want to make this into granola bar, you will need to place the cereal flakes into a food processor and process until the mixture is a fine crumble. Add in liquid ingredients and process quickly to blend things through. Then add cranberries and almonds, and mix until combined (you don't want to grind down the nuts and cranberries too much, so just blend enough to mix them in). Transfer onto a parchment-lined baking dish (8 x 8"). Press contents down a lot to compact into the dish. Refrigerate for 20 mins or more, and then remove from dish and cut into squares.