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By Nikola · Precision Nutrition L1 · Sources checked 5 November 2026
Most shop-bought granola is held together with sugar, honey or syrup. This one gets its sweetness and its clusters from a paste of Medjool dates blended with hot water, so there is no added sugar, only the natural sugar of the dates. Rolled oats, four kinds of nuts and three kinds of seeds bake slowly at 160°C and turn crisp as they cool in the tray. One batch makes about 700 g, 14 servings, and keeps for three weeks in a jar.
Portion: about 50 g, 1/2 cup each · Difficulty: Easy · Diet: Vegan; gluten-free only with oats certified gluten-free
No-added-sugar granola with nuts and seeds
Ingredients
- 250 g rolled oats about 3 cups
- 60 g almonds about 1/2 cup, roughly chopped
- 50 g hazelnuts about 1/3 cup, roughly chopped
- 50 g raw cashews about 1/3 cup
- 40 g shelled pistachios about 1/3 cup
- 40 g sunflower seeds about 1/4 cup, raw and unsalted
- 40 g pumpkin seeds about 1/3 cup, raw and unsalted
- 20 g sesame seeds 2 tbsp
- 50 g coconut oil about 4 tbsp, melted
- 120 g Medjool dates about 6, pitted
- 60 ml hot water 4 tbsp
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon 3 g
- A pinch of fine salt 1 g
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 160°C (150°C fan) and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
- Put the dates and the hot water in a small blender or food processor (or use a stick blender in a tall jug) and blend to a thick, smooth paste, about 1 minute. If the dates are dry, leave them in the hot water for 10 minutes first.
- Stir the melted coconut oil, cinnamon and salt into the date paste.
- In a large bowl, mix the oats, chopped almonds and hazelnuts, cashews, pistachios and all the seeds. Add the date mixture and stir for a good minute, until every oat flake is coated. Your hands do this best.
- Spread the granola on the tray in an even layer about 1 cm thick and press it down lightly with the back of a spoon; pressing is what makes clusters.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden and fragrant. Halfway through, turn it over once in large pieces with a spatula and press it down lightly again. Watch the last 5 minutes, as the edges brown first.
- Leave the granola to cool completely in the tray, about 30 minutes, without moving it. It is still soft when it comes out of the oven and turns crisp as it cools. Then break it into clusters and tip it into a jar.
Nutrition per serving
Per serving, about 50 g (1/14 of the batch), calculated from USDA FoodData Central for each ingredient.
| Energy | 248 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 6.9 g |
| Fat | 15.5 g |
| of which saturates | 4.4 g |
| Carbohydrate | 23.3 g |
| of which sugars | 6.8 g |
| Fibre | 4.4 g |
| Salt (added) | 0.07 g |
Data: USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy: Cereals, oats, regular and quick, not fortified, dry (FDC 173904); Nuts, almonds (FDC 170567); Nuts, hazelnuts or filberts (FDC 170581); Nuts, cashew nuts, raw (FDC 170162); Nuts, pistachio nuts, raw (FDC 170184); Seeds, sunflower seed kernels, dried (FDC 170562); Seeds, pumpkin and squash seed kernels, dried (FDC 170556); Seeds, sesame seeds, whole, dried (FDC 170150); Oil, coconut (FDC 171412); Dates, medjool (FDC 168191); Spices, cinnamon, ground (FDC 171320); Salt, table (FDC 173468). The values are calculated on the raw ingredients (724 g); the water in the date paste evaporates in the oven, so a 50 g serving is close to 1/14 of the batch. Over four fifths of the sugars come from the dates and the rest from the nuts; nothing sweet is added. About two thirds of the saturated fat comes from the coconut oil. The Medjool date record has no value for saturated fat, so it is counted as zero (dates have 0.15 g of fat per 100 g). Carbohydrate is USDA “by difference” and includes fibre. The values are for the granola alone, without milk, yogurt or fruit.
Swaps and variations
- Another oil: sunflower oil or a mild olive oil instead of coconut oil gives less saturated fat and no coconut flavour; the table is calculated with coconut oil. If you are weighing it up, read is coconut oil healthy.
- Other nuts: walnuts or pecans instead of any of the nuts, gram for gram.
- Nut-free: leave out the nuts and use more pumpkin and sunflower seeds, which makes it suitable for a school lunchbox.
- Dried fruit: stir in 60 g raisins or chopped dried apricots or figs after baking, not before, or they burn and go hard. They add sugar that is not in the table.
- Spices: a pinch of ground cardamom or ginger with the cinnamon, or 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder in the date paste.
Storage
Keeps up to 3 weeks in a clean, dry, airtight jar at room temperature, away from the hob and direct sun. If it softens, spread it on a tray, crisp it for 5 minutes at 150°C (140°C fan) and let it cool again. Serve it with plain yogurt or kefir, milk or a plant drink, or scattered over fruit.
Related
- Recipes: Greek yogurt and pomegranate parfait · Baked apples with walnuts and cinnamon · No-bake energy balls with oats and dates
- Encyclopedia: Oats · Dates · Almonds · Coconut oil
- Diet: Vegan diet
FAQ
Is this granola sugar-free?
No. It has no added sugar, honey or syrup, but the dates bring their own sugar: 6.8 g per 50 g serving, most of it from the dates. That is why it is called “no added sugar” and not “sugar-free”.
Is granola gluten-free?
Only if the oats are. Oats contain no gluten themselves, but they are often grown and milled alongside wheat, barley and rye, so use oats certified gluten-free. If you have coeliac disease, check with your doctor first, because a small number of people also react to oats.
Why is my granola not crunchy?
Usually because it was stirred or moved while still warm, or taken out too early. Let it cool completely in the tray; if it is still soft once cold, put it back in the oven for 5 minutes.
How much is a serving?
About 50 g, roughly 1/2 cup. Granola is energy-dense, 248 kcal per serving here, so weigh it once to see what 50 g looks like in your bowl.
This recipe is for information only and is not medical or dietary advice. Nutrition values are estimates calculated from standard databases and will vary with your ingredients.
Terms in this article
ZucchiniVegan Diet – benefits and risks of vegan dietPumpkinGingerOatsExtra Virgin Olive OilCinnamonAlmondsPumpkin seedsSesame seedsHazelnutsKefirCashewsPistachiosWalnutsHoney
