Easy Homemade Sourdough Granola
Adding a bit of sourdough starter to this solar oven baked granola creates deliciously crunchy clusters! Option for standard oven.
Servings: 6 cups
Equipment
- Solar Oven optional
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar/sweetener I typically use ½ c brown sugar and ½ c maple syrup. Honey, agave, raw sugar etc., will all work. Avoid fine white sugar as it tends to cause the granola to burn.
- ½ cup sourdough starter optional
- ⅓ cup almond butter or oil of choice Peanut butter or any other seed/nut butter will also work. If using oil, I will often use melted coconut oil, but whatever you have is fine. (You can also use melted butter here if you prefer.)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 ½ cups oats
- 2 cups nuts and/or seeds for this batch I used cashews, almonds and pecans which I roughly chopped and ¼ c hemp seeds. For nut free use all seeds, for example 1 c pepitas, ½ c sunflower seeds, 1/4 c hemp seeds and 1/4 c chia seeds
Optional flavor add ins:
- ½ cup chopped coconut
- ½ cup chocolate chips
- ½ cup dried fruit I used chopped dates for this batch
Instructions
- In a large bowl stir together wet ingredients: 1 cup brown sugar (or your sweetener of choice), 1/2 cup sourdough starter if using, 1/3 cup nut butter or oil, 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp ground cinnamon. Mix until no clumps remain.
- Add the dry ingredients to the same bowl: 2 cups nuts and seeds, 2 1/2 cups oats, a pinch of salt, and any flavor add-ins. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet until everything is well-coated.
- If using a standard oven, turn it on to 275°F, no need to preheat.
- Spread the mixture onto a large baking sheet or into your solar oven tray. Depending on the size of your oven, you may need to do this in multiple batches. You want the layer of granola to be about 1/4 inch thick so everything will be evenly toasted. In my GoSun Fusion solar oven (see below for link), I split this recipe into 2 batches for baking.
- Standard Oven: Place baking tray in the oven and set a timer for 15 minutes. Check the tray and stir the granola in 15-minute intervals until it becomes golden brown and crispy, usually about 1 hour total in a home oven. If you are cooking in a boat oven, which often have hot spots, you may want to check and stir every 10 minutes and turn the tray each time.
- Solar Oven: For the solar oven, I find it needs longer to warm up, so I usually wait 30 minutes before the first stir and then begin stirring in 15-minute intervals. The total time in the solar oven is typically about 2 hours in full sun.
- Remove the granola from the oven once it is toasted to a golden brown. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before eating and fully cool before storing. Makes about 6 cups total of granola or 12 1/2 cup servings. Granola will last for several months stored in an airtight container.
