Mountain Granola
makes ~7 cups (~14 half-cup servings) · 10 min prep · 35–40 min bake · 45 min cool · keeps 2 weeks room temp, then fridge or freezer
Makes 14 servings
A maple-forward granola built specifically for kefir and yogurt bowls—warm spices, toasted nuts, tahini richness, and dark chocolate. The tahini is the sleeper upgrade; it coats every oat, deepens the toast, and pairs with the maple in a way that plain oil doesn't. A light press before baking grows pea- to dime-sized clusters while keeping the rest loose, so it sprinkles on a bowl and snacks from the jar.
Ingredients
Dry
- 3 cups sprouted rolled oats (One Degree Organic)
- ¾ cup raw walnuts, roughly chopped
- ⅓ cup raw pecans, roughly chopped
- ⅓ cup raw almonds, roughly chopped
- ⅓ cup raw shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
- ½ cup raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
- ¼ cup raw sunflower seeds
- 4 tbsp ground flaxseed
- ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 2 tbsp dark brown sugar (or coconut sugar)
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¾ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- ½ tsp fine Celtic sea salt
Wet
- ¼ cup mild extra virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup (Grade A dark)
- 2 tbsp tahini (Soom Premium or Seed + Mill)
- 1 tbsp raw local honey
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Mix-ins (added after cooling)
- ½ cup dried Montmorency tart cherries (Trader Joe's)
- ¼ cup freeze-dried blueberries
- ⅓ cup hemp hearts (Manitoba Harvest Organic)
- ½ cup 85% dark chocolate, rough chopped (Pascha or similar)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F and line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment.
- In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients—oats, the nuts and seeds, flax, coconut, brown sugar, the three spices, and salt—and stir to distribute.
- In a small bowl, whisk the wet ingredients until the tahini fully incorporates and the mixture is smooth and uniform.
- Pour the wet over the dry and stir thoroughly so every oat and nut is evenly coated.
- Spread in an even layer on the sheet pan, then press lightly with the back of a spatula—just enough to compact, not enough to make slabs.
- The light press encourages small clusters to form (pea- to dime-sized nuggets) while the rest stays loose around them.
- The result is sprinkle-friendly for kefir bowls, with nugget bites scattered through for eating by the handful.
- Bake 20 minutes undisturbed, then stir gently with a spatula to break up forming clumps, rotate the pan 180°, and bake another 15–20 minutes until deeply golden.
- Watch closely from the 35-minute mark—tahini and brown sugar caramelize fast and the line between deep golden and bitter is thin.
- Cool completely on the pan, undisturbed, at least 45 minutes; the granola crisps as it cools.
- Once fully cool, fold in the cherries, freeze-dried blueberries, hemp hearts, and chopped chocolate.
- The mix-ins go in cold for a reason: chocolate melts otherwise, and hemp hearts lose their nutty flavor if they hit residual heat.
- Store in airtight glass jars.
- Two weeks at room temperature in a dark cupboard, then move what's left to the fridge or freezer—walnuts, flax, and hemp hearts all oxidize faster than the oats.
- If the granola softens over time, spread it on a sheet pan at 275°F for 8–10 minutes, cool fully, and re-jar.
| Cal / ½ cup | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|
| ~395 | 10g | 35g | 26g |
Sat fat 6g · Sodium 65mg · Fiber 6g · Sugars 14g (8g added) · per ½ cup—dense in magnesium, zinc, omega-3 ALA from the walnut/flax/hemp combination, and lutein from the pistachios
Why this works
Four things separate this from supermarket granola. The tahini, used at 2 tablespoons across the batch, disappears into the coating but improves cluster formation and brings a toasted-sesame depth that pairs with maple the way peanut butter pairs with banana—you can't taste it directly and you'd miss it if it were gone. The mix-ins go in cold, which preserves the 30% protein in the hemp hearts, keeps the chocolate as actual chunks against the dairy, and lets the freeze-dried blueberries stay sharp instead of softening into the oats. The light press before baking is the texture lever—just enough compaction to grow nugget clusters in among the loose pieces, so it sprinkles on a kefir bowl and snacks straight from the jar without committing to either extreme. And the nut-and-seed load runs higher than commercial granola by design: this is a fat-and-protein food that happens to contain oats, not a carb food garnished with nuts. Served as a ½-cup sprinkle on yogurt or kefir, or a small handful from the jar, the proportions land right; eaten by the cup with milk, it would run rich.