4-Ingredient Honey Nut Granola

Four ingredients + four steps. This easy-peasy granola is loaded with whole grains, healthy fats and natural sweeteners for a crunchy treat that will fill your body with wholesome goodness! 

This past month has been a blur. Almost two weeks ago, I finished my community nutrition rotation in my dietetic internship at Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). For those unfamiliar, WIC is a supplemental nutrition program of the USDA that provides supplemental foods, health care referrals and nutrition education to low-income pregnant, breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age 5. I went in with limited information on nutrition for pregnant women, and now, I'm chock full of information about serving sizes for infants and kids, tips & tricks for picky toddlers, what to expect when breastfeeding, how much to feed infants and so forth. I wouldn't have learned all of this if it weren't for all the wonderful people I met at WIC. I'm definitely going to miss them! Now, I'm in my clinical nutrition rotation and I'm surprised that I think IT'S FUN. I've never had much clinical experience prior to this rotation, but I'm thankful that I'm getting it now. Each day I'm at the hospital, I get to be a detective. I scout patients' medical charts and communicate with the healthcare team to figure out what's the best plan of nutrition care for them. Right now, I'm a super noob at clinical nutrition, so thankfully, I have patient and kind preceptors to guide me along the way! Anddddddd, to help me retain all this information, I need to have a satisfied belly, so onwards to my four-ingredient honey nut granola!

4-Ingredient Honey Nut Granola 

I never knew making granola could be so EASY PEASY LEMON SQUEEZY. Okay, I just had to get that out. But, for real, you mix everything in a bowl, pour it out onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake it. That's it! 

Also, cleanup is pretty simple. All you need to wash are the measuring spoons and mixing bowl. The handy-dandy parchment paper helps keep your baking sheet clean. Woot!

This made my kitchen smell like honey nut heaven.

My kitchen lights are yellow. So everything is yellow yellow yellow gran-ellow~

Crunchy bits of goodness!

Let's breakdown the four ingredients (and talk about why you want it in your granola). 

• Oats - Oats contain beta-glucan, a soluble fiber that helps with reducing LDL ("bad") cholesterol (reducing the risk of heart disease!), reducing blood sugar and increasing the feeling of fullness. It's the star of this recipe. 
• Nuts - I've tried this recipe with chopped pecans, walnuts and almonds. Use whatever nut you have on hand. They all make for a super tasty granola! Nuts are full of unsaturated fats, which can help lower your LDL cholesterol and raise your HDL ("good") cholesterol, decreasing your risk for heart disease. I don't know about you, but I'm a nut-holic, especially at breakfast. I like nuts and nut butters in my oatmeal, yogurt, cereal, pancakes, bars, cookies, omlettes (lol jk, but this might actually taste good)...you get the picture.
• Honey - This natural sweetener is an antimicrobial powerhouse and it's why you're going to want to eat this granola. If you don't like or don't have honey, try maple syrup, agave nectar or any other liquid sweetener. A liquid sweetener works best because it will help you coat your granola mixture evenly. 
• Coconut Oil - Oil is the key in getting your granola crispy and crunchy! I like coconut oil for its flavor. If I'm not using it for cooking, I'm using this magical ingredient on my skin and hair! It smells and feels like bliss. Trader Joe's coconut oil is my go-to and one 16-ounce jar lasts me several months for my cooking and beauty needs.

I like to eat this granola with plain Greek yogurt + fruit, with smoothies, with milk or as is. It's also a yummy topping for "ice" cream (banana-based ice cream)!

Mango Honey Nut Granola Greek Yogurt Parfait

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4-Ingredient Honey Nut Granola

by Cindy Ma

Four ingredients + four steps. This easy-peasy granola is loaded with whole grains, healthy fats and natural sweeteners for a crunchy treat that will fill your body with wholesome goodness!

Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes Total time: 35 minutes Servings: 12 Serving Size: rounded 1/3 cup

Ingredients

• 3 cups oats
• 1 1/2 cups nuts, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup honey
• 3 tablespoons melted unrefined coconut oil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300°F. 2. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl until oats/nuts are thoroughly coated. 3. Cover large baking sheet with parchment paper and pour oat mixture on top. 4. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring the granola halfway.

Nutrition Information: Calories: 215 Total Fat: 12g Carbohydrates: 25g Protein: 4g Fiber 2g Sodium: 0mg Sugar 11g 

If you try out this recipe, comment, tweet, Facebook or Instagram me and let me know how it went! Also, please let me know what else you would like to see on the blog. Thank you for reading! :)