I’ve been craving carrot cake for weeks, but summer’s coming up quickly and I really don’t need to be eating cake right now. I decided to make carrot cake granola instead! It’s loaded with all of the goodies that you’d find in your favorite carrot cake: coconut, walnuts, raisins, and warm spices. I even got all trendy and threw in some quinoa, which adds a nutty flavor and slightly chewy texture. This is one of my new favorite treats – I keep disappearing into the kitchen to sneak a hand full. It’s also great sprinkled over yogurt – I recommend coconut or lemon!
Because the carrots and quinoa add so much moisture to this granola, it takes longer to make than my other granola recipes – about an hour total. You’ll start it at high heat to toast the oats and walnuts, then reduce the heat to dehydrate the carrots. The result is a great combination of crunchy, chewy, and soft textures.
Carrot cake granola is my contribution to this month’s leftover club, where food bloggers ship their leftovers to faraway friends. A bag of this carrot cake granola is headed off to Dani from Dining with Dani.
Carrot Cake Granola
This is a very lightly sweetened granola. If you prefer a sweeter granola with more clumps, double the honey.
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup shredded carrot (about 2)
- 3/4 cup cooked quinoa
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 1/4 cup shredded coconut
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- dash salt
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil (at room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup raisins
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with a silicon mat or parchment.
- Mix fist 10 ingredients (through salt). In a separate bowl, mix together honey, coconut oil, and vanilla. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients; mix thoroughly. Spread in a thin layer on the baking sheet.
- Bake 15 minutes; stir. Reduce heat to 225F and bake 45 minutes, or until ingredients are dry and toasted. Remove from oven and let cool. Stir in raisins.
- Store in an airtight container.
Nutrition Information
Amount Per Serving Calories 115Total Fat 5gFiber 2gProtein 3g
What are the Nutrition Facts for Carrot Cake Granola? It looks great but I am diabetic and need to know how to count it into my diet.
Two questions. Coconut, sweetened or unsweetened?–Coconut oil: how do you measure it and mix it at room temp.? It’s solid.
Sam
I use sweetened coconut since it’s easier to find, but you can use either. At room temp, my coconut oil is a soft solid so it isn’t difficult to mix it into the honey. If yours is too hard (it might be this time of year) you can melt it down a little.
Thanks! Tomorrow, granola.
Sam