Easy Vanilla Almond Granola

Hello, my beautiful chickpeas! I’m back with another simple but delicious vegan recipe! I don’t know about you, but I love to start my day off on the right foot with a nutritious plant based breakfast. And who doesn’t love an easy-to-make homemade granola? This Easy Vanilla Almond Granola fits the bill every time!

This Easy Vanilla Almond Granola is great to make at the beginning of the week and have on hand for busy mornings. It’s filling enough to get me through my morning, but isn’t too heavy. I also love just eating it as a light snack throughout the day! Let’s get into it.

Inspiration for Easy Vanilla Almond Granola 

I’ve always enjoyed granola as a quick and easy breakfast. In college I regularly enjoyed store bought granola options. However, while my husband and I were on our honeymoon, we went to an adorable little bed and breakfast. They served homemade breakfast every morning, and my favorite thing they served was a homemade granola. After that, I knew that homemade was my new go-to.

I started experimenting in my own kitchen shortly after that trip, and this was one of the recipes that was born! I love this one because it’s flavor profile is nutty and sweet, and it’s light enough that I don’t feel weighed down after breakfast. It’s delicious paired with almond milk and eaten as a cereal, or paired with coconut yogurt to make a little breakfast bowl!

Ingredients

This recipe is super simple! Not including salt, it’s only a 5-ingredient recipe. Here’s what we are working with:

• Rolled oats: these make up the bulk of our granola recipe. I love starting my day with oats because they’ve got fiber, protein, and other micronutrients! They’re soak up the flavors of the other ingredients here perfectly.
• Sliced almonds: for some healthy fats and extra crunch! The almond flavor also pairs very well with vanilla.
• Maple syrup, almond butter, and vanilla: these work together to create a granola consistency with the oats and almonds, and they add sweetness so that we can start our day on a sweet note!

How to Make Easy Vanilla Almond Granola

We like to go for simple recipes here, and especially when it comes to breakfast! I know you’ve got a busy day ahead of you, so let’s make this one quick & easy:

1. Preheat oven
2. Whisk together almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt
3. Add oats and almonds
4. Bake for a bit, give it a flip, bake for a little longer
5. Let cool
6. Enjoy!

Tips & Tricks

Here are some of my thoughts on how you can have fun with this scrumptious homemade granola!

• Enjoying this for breakfast? It’s great enjoyed cereal-style with a bit of almond milk poured over it, or paired with coconut yogurt and fruit for a fun little parfait-inspired bowl. (My favorite coconut yogurt is Culina!)
• I don’t know if this is normal or not, but I love to snack on this throughout the day the way you might snack on trail mix! I love keeping a little bowl of it at my desk to grab when I need a little boost.
• Obviously I was going for almond vanilla vibes here, but you can replace the almonds with whatever nut you’d like! (I personally think cashews wold also be excellent!) Just note that different nuts may need slightly different baking times, so keep an eye on it if you decide to substitute something.
• If you like other potentially snacky foods, try out my Hit The Trail Mix next! Or if you’re looking for another oat-based recipe, you may like my Peaches & Cream Oatmeal or my Lemon Poppy Seed Baked Oatmeal!

Enjoy!

Easy Vanilla Almond Granola

Recipe by Delaney Romero – Joyful Balance

Servings (paired with yogurt and fruit)

4

servings

From Start to Finish

45

minutes

This Easy Vanilla Almond Granola is the perfect plant based breakfast. It’s flavor is nutty and sweet, and it’s perfectly crunchy. Enjoy this cereal-style with some almond milk, or with your choice of vegan yogurt!

*Note that “From Start to Finish” is an estimate that includes 10 minutes to preheat your oven, 5 minutes to prepare the granola, 20 minutes for the granola to bake, and 10 minutes for it to cool. That means that only about 5 minutes of the time are hands-on!

Ingredients

• 2 cups rolled oats

• 1 cup sliced almonds

• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/4 cup natural almond butter*

• 1/8 tsp salt

Directions

• Preheat oven to 325F. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with a silicone baking mat.
• Whisk together maple syrup, vanilla extract, almond butter, and salt.
• Add your oats and sliced almonds to the maple syrup mixture. Stir until everything is evenly coated.
• Spread your granola mixture on your prepared baking sheet so that it’s all one even layer. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven, use a spatula to flip the granola, and then return to oven for another 8-12 minutes or until it is cooked to your liking (9 minutes is perfect for me).
• Let cool completely. Serve as you wish and enjoy!

Notes

• *Natural almond butter: I use an almond butter that is made of ONLY roasted almonds. If you use an almond butter with added sugar/salt/oil/etc, it may affect the flavor of the recipe. The brand I like to use is Once Again Creamy Almond Butter!

Happy cooking! If you made this recipe don’t forget to tag me (@joyfulbalanceofficial) on facebook or instagram so I can cheer you on for your granola-making ways.

Stay joyfully balanced!