Pistachio Apricot Granola is a long time favourite recipe that I made gluten free years ago. I simply replaced all the gluten containing grains with safe whole oats and that's it. This recipe is easy to make, can be varied in many ways and tastes better than store bought. You've just got to try it!
I like my granola in the morning with milk or yogurt and fresh or frozen fruit. For a special occasion I will layer it in wine glasses for a pretty breakfast parfait. My husband likes his granola as a snack right out of the jar. But don't stop there; sprinkle granola on top of muffins or pancake batter to add some crunch, fold it into cookie dough for Granola Cookies or try it on ice cream!
Organize For Success
When you portion food into the sizes you use it makes life easier. You might want to put granola in tiny jars for snacks, half fill jars to leave room for milk (breakfast in the car), or add yogurt with frozen fruit for your lunch bag. If you love Mason jars like I do check out this post where I write about my 2-lid system, Organize For Success with Mason Jars.
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Gluten Free Oats and The Purity Protocol
On a strict gluten free diet your oats must be 'safe oats' and that means made following the purity protocol. If this is new information for you it's just one of those topics you need to learn about. The food industry is ever changing so a lifestyle with any food restriction requires ongoing learning. If you've been gluten free for awhile just think of all the changes in the last ten years!
One of the ways I keep up is listening to podcasts. Randomly hearing this podcast episode is one of the benefits of subscribing. This topic wasn't on my radar but I thought the story about the purity protocol was fascinating. Here's a link to that episode on A Canadian Celiac Podcast.
Episode 26 - Only Oats Goes Organic
Many of us in the celiac community do our best to share accurate information but ultimately you should be getting your health information from a credible source. The Canadian Celiac Association has a Position Paper on Oats for more information.
Buying Safe Oats
The good news is that safe gluten free oats are now readily available in stores and online with a logo declaring the gluten free certification.
- Only Oats a Canadian product from Saskatchewan
- Montana Gluten Free Raw Oatmeal
Mix It Up - Variety is the Spice of Life
No one wants to get tired of eating the dishes they love so be sure to mix it up. You've got to keep what's in your pantry moving too so sometimes I start there. Here are some ideas:
- NUTS - almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews or macadamias.
- SEEDS - sunflower, sesame, pumpkin, chia or flax seeds.
- DRIED FRUIT - mango, pineapple, cranberries, dates or raisins.
- SWEETENER - instead of honey try maple syrup or your sweetener of choice.
Get The Tools
Every kitchen needs some basic tools and these are some of the items I use to make granola.
- Both a 4-cup pyrex measuring cup and the 1-cup or 2-cup size to measure the liquid. I like a lot of measuring cups so I can cook and bake without running out.
- 2 baking sheets - I have 2 for cooking (roasting vegetables with garlic), then I have 2 more the same that I only use for baking. I don't want hints of garlic in my granola so that's just my preference.
- Mason jars! I store my granola in the large 4-cup size jar and the 1 or 2-cup jars, preferably the short jars with a wide mouth.
I'd love to hear in the comments below if you made this Pistachio Apricot Granola and if you switch it up like I do.
Originally posted March 2015, updated March 2021
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Pistachio Apricot Granola
Ingredients
- 4 cups gluten free whole oats
- 1 cup coconut flakes or shredded coconut
- ¾ cup shelled pistachios
WET INGREDIENTS
- ⅓ cup honey
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup orange juice (or apple juice)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- FINISHING - ½ cup chopped, dried apricots
Instructions
- Line 2 large, rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- In a large bowl combine oats, coconut and pistachios.
- In a 2-cup pyrex measuring cup combine honey, vegetable oil, orange juice and spices. Heat in microwave on high for 1 minute, stir. Heat for another minute then stir.
- Pour liquid over oat mixture and stir. Divide between baking sheets and spread evenly in the pans.
- Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and gently stir pushing the browned outer edges of the mixture into the center of the pans and moving the middle part toward the outer edges.
- Bake for another 15 minutes or until nicely browned. Cool completely.
- Stir in apricots. Store in an airtight container for up to 8 weeks.
Notes
- NUTS - almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews or macadamias.
- SEEDS - sunflower, sesame, pumpkin, chia or flax seeds.
- DRIED FRUIT - mango, pineapple, cranberries, dates or raisins.
- SWEETENER - instead of honey try maple syrup or your sweetener of choice.
Victor Vicini
Looks great Cinde. Can’t wait to try this. Love granola! Thank you for responding to my emails.. it really helps to hear from someone who loves food and has Celiac.
Thanks
Vic
Cinde Little
Hi Vic! I love granola too, always the homemade kind. I'm actually not the one who is celiac, it's my friend but I teach GF cooking classes, sell homemade cookie dough and volunteer with the local Celiac Chapter so I'm all in. 🙂 Thanks for the questions and I hope you enjoy the granola!
Paula Taylor
Hi, this looks like a great recipe. I don’t usually eat much granola but I found one brand I liked - not full of nasties and it tasted just right. They unfortunately changed the recipe with no notification and it just tasted ‘wrong’ after that, and so I want to make my own. (Sorry this is turning out to be long!).
I’m in the uk and I frequently make flapjacks - the British kind, baked till chewy and golden, or a little bit longer for those who like them crunchy - I do best of both, soft and a bit gooey and chewy in the middle and crispy round the edges. I mix up the additions - various dried fruits, nuts etc. Now, my question is, if I follow your method above, but using what I would use to make my basic flapjack recipe (ie quantities/ratios and the basic ingredients I use) but then cook it the way you do, without pushing it all down like I would normally, do you think that would work as granola? To give you an idea, my basic recipe is usually butter, oats with golden syrup and equal quantities of brown (usually muscovado sugar). I melt the butter and dissolve the sugar in a pan, along with the golden syrup (I’m not so keen on honey), then when all dissolved I mis in the oats and Amy nuts, fruits etc. It needs to be enough to cover the oats. At that point I squash firmly into a lined tin and put in oven. Do you think, my recipe would then work if I follow your directions, or will my mixture be too ‘wet’? And if you think I need to make some changes What suggestions could you make that you think will work better?
Thank you so much!
Paula
Cinde Little
Hi Paula! I looked at a few recipes for British Flapjacks and they sound fabulous, what we would call Oat Bars or Granola Bars. Here's what I suggest to turn your flapjacks into granola. 1) Reduce the liquid portion of your flapjacks (butter, sugar and syrup) by 1 Tbsp of each to start. 2) Butter would make flapjacks stick together so try half oil/half butter OR replace the butter with oil (using 7/8 cup of oil for every 1 cup butter). 3) Loosely put the granola on a baking pan that comfortably hold the loose mixture. If it's too big the granola around the edges will burn so keep an eye on it as it cooks and stir it if necessary. Best of luck and let me know how it goes! I'll try the flapjacks. 🙂