My wife and I love eating local foods, and also eating foods in their natural season. In late summer and fall, that means enjoying apples while they are in their prime. This year we ate apples from a couple of different local orchards, and even picked some ourselves at Joe’s Orchard.
We enjoyed those apples in a number of different ways, including salads, applesauce, and apple leather. We even dehydrated quite a few of them, which concentrates the flavor. We make our homemade dried apples without added sugar or preservatives, and they make for a healthy and tasty snack. They’re also good added to oatmeal, and baked goods. But I’m always looking for more ways to use these little morsels.
Apple Cinnamon Granola (click on any image to enlarge)
This fall I decided to come up with a granola that combines two of my favorite flavor treats: dried apples and cinnamon. This granola also calls for honey, which is one of my favorite sweeteners, and applesauce to add to the apple flavor.
granola topping fruit and yogurt
This homemade granola makes a great snack by itself, or add milk for cereal. It also adds flavor and crunch to fruit and yogurt, which is one of my favorite ways to use it.
Apple Cinnamon Granola
Print This RecipeA Happy Acres Original
3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup applesauce, unsweetened
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
5 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (raw, unsalted)
1 cup dried apples, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1. Preheat oven to 325° F. Coat two large baking sheets with cooking spray.
2. Combine honey, applesauce, oil, water, cinnamon, vanilla and salt in a saucepan. Bring to simmer, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
3. Mix oats, wheat germ, walnuts and sunflower seeds in large mixing bowl. Pour honey mixture into bowl and stir until everything is well coated.
4. Spread granola evenly over two baking sheets. Bake for 40-45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until lightly browned.
5. Remove from the oven and place on cooling racks. Stir 1/2 cup dried apples into the granola on each sheet. Allow to cool completely. Store granola in an airtight container.
Servings: 15 (about 1/2 cup each)
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 297 calories, 99 calories from fat, 11.5g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 84.2mg sodium, 116.9mg potassium, 43.8g carbohydrates, 5.5g fiber, 18g sugar, 7.1g protein, 29mg calcium, 1.2g saturated fat.
Great sounding recipe. Do you use a dehydrator to dry your apples, or do you oven dry them? People have been drying apples in Indiana for fall storage for nearly two centuries. I love slow food and old timey cooking.
We use the dehydrator. It makes for a more even finished product I think. You are so right, it is an old time way of apple preservation.
Mmm…I love granola in yogurt. I used to make both granola and muesli myself, rather than buying cereal. It always tastes so much better homemade. I haven’t made my own in some time, but this sounds delicious, especially with the apple. I can see this is yet another reason I really need to hit Santa up for that dehydrator too! 😉
Sounds fantastic! Thanks for sharing!
That looks and sounds very yummy! I no longer have a dehydrator at my disposal so I have not gotten any dried fruits to use to try this recipe out. Guess I could oven dehydrate them in a pinch.
That granola sounds lovely. How long do the apples last once they’ve been dehydrated?
We keep them for 8-10 months, sealed with our Foodsaver.