Grain free granola made with coconut, a variety of nuts, coconut oil and cinnamon. Paleo, gluten-free, low carb and low sugar.
Sugar is a hot topic in the nutrition world today — and for good reason. Many prevalent health concerns (think Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, liver cirrhosis and dementia) have all been linked to diets loaded with sugar, most of it coming from the added sugars in processed foods and sweetened beverages.
Only 5 Ingredients
unsweetened coconut flakes
raw nuts: I used a blend of cashews, almonds, walnuts and pumpkin seeds
chia seeds
cinnamon
coconut oil or butter, melted
How to Make Grain Free Granola
No Added Sugar
Back to the book… In addition to the 8 week detox program, the book has over 100 sugar-free recipes — with beautiful photos I might add. I’ve already bookmarked a bunch to try but after hearing from Sarah that the granola was one of the most popular recipes, I knew I needed to make a batch.
I made mine without the brown rice syrup and it turned out to be delicious. I can totally see why it’s such a popular recipe. It does a great job of satisfying my craving for sweet and crunchy granola but without the grains and added sugar. It’s so packed with healthy fats from the coconut, nuts and chia seeds so it’s really quite filling. I love it on greek yogurt!
If you try this grain free granola recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Your feedback on my recipes is so helpful for the EBF team and other EBF readers!
I’ve been eyeing up this recipe for months and finally got around to making it. The proportions of pumpkin seeds, coconut, chia seeds, etc. was perfect! Had some trouble with the oven temp… I put the granola in the oven for 20 mins at 250C and it still looked soggy without a hint of golden. I bumped the temp up to 300C for another 15 minutes (stirring once mid-way through) and it finally got to the crisp and color I was looking for. Also, I could have easily gotten by with only 3 or 4 tbsp coconut oil as the final product is still fairly greasy, but the overall flavor is still really delicious and I will definitely be making this recipe again. 🙂
I just made this for breakfast this morning, and it is sooo good. Love that it is not overly sweet like some granola. I will definitely be making it again:)
I am so happy this book inspired you to clean up your habits!!! 🙂 I quit sugar 13 years ago and I have never ever looked back! It might be a tad bit difficult at first, but it will just become second nature soon!
Great interview! I think I might have a problem with my thyroid, but had never considered sugar as being a factor in that. There’s only one thing Sarah said that kind of pushed my buttons… our digestion system has in fact changed since the “cave man” days (by the way, who were the cave men? Neandertals? Homo erectus?) Something that most people don’t understand about evolution is that it does not stop. Just because our anatomy seemingly hasn’t changed since Neandertals went extinct, doesn’t mean that evolution has stopped. It’s constantly working, which means our digestion system did not just come to a stand still thousands of years ago. It continues to evolve! Just a scientific point of view on the matter! Can’t wait to check out Sarah’s book. Looks great!
It takes many, many thousands of years plus, at a minimum, for evolutionary changes/adaptations to occur. I also don’t know anyone that thinks that human ‘evolution has stopped’, especially in relation to the extinction of Neanderthals? (the correct spelling). Given that only around 1-4% of the modern human genome is traceable to that of Neanderthals, any comparisons or conclusions related to this are spurious at best.
Interesting interview! I’ve considered cutting out processed sugar completely, and definitely have lowered my intake, but I haven’t ever considered cutting it out completely. I might have to pick this book up and give it a try!
Great interview! I “quit” sugar a bit over 18 months ago – I used to CRAVE it and pretty sure I was a bit addicted! I used to get crazy “brain fog”, my mood was all over the place and I had low energy levels. After only about two (incredibly hard!) weeks I started to feel a bit better, and I now barely have no processed sugar in my diet. I’ve lost about 10 pounds without trying – and kept it off – and I actually exercise now less as I dont feel I have to work off calories, I just exercise for health. If any of this resonates with any of you (or any of what Sarah mentioned above) I definitely recommend cutting sugar from your diet. I read her book (albeit after I’d already stopped eating sugar) and it’s full of loads of tips and information, so a great resource!
Good minds think alike. I asked the same question. haha
In the book Sarah mentions that wine, beer and pure spirits (liquor) have minimal fructose because the fructose is converted to alcohol. The drier the wine, the better. Fortified and dessert wines are a no-go. She also mentions that one or two drinks in one sitting is best because alcohol has its own fat metabolism and health issues and it’s also addictive.
Long story short, you can still drink wine in moderation. Woo-hoo! 🙂
Interesting post! I’m curious about the book and wonder if a sugar hiatus would affect my mood/health.
After I read your comment about Sriracha, I had to go check my bottle. I was surprised; mine is only 1gram per teaspoon serving. Are you saying it’s packed with sugar because that’s listed as the second ingredient, or because you eat several servings of it per day so it ends up being a lot for you? Personally, I think 1gram per serving is not bad!
Mine only has 1 gram per teaspoon as well, but like you said sugar is the second ingredient. Also there are 96 servings in a bottle so 96 grams of sugar in the bottle, which is about 24 teaspoons or 24 packets of sugar.
I personally don’t think 1 gram per serving is bad either, but 1 teaspoon is pretty small and given that I was using Sriracha on my breakfast, lunch and dinner, I was probably having a about 3 teaspoons as day. So.. 3 extra grams of sugar and 300 extra grams of sodium — just from Sriracha. And I noticed that I was having to use more and more because it wasn’t tasting as spicy to me anymore (I guess I was growing a tolerance to the spice).
In the grand scheme of things, it’s really not that bad and I’ll still use Sriracha from time to time. 🙂
In most countries, yes, the order that ingredients are listed on the label reflects their percentage of the product. In products with few ingredients, however, something may appear as 2nd or 3rd on the list, whilst still being a relatively minor amount in regards to other ingredients. Therefore, concluding that a product has a large amount of a particular substance just because this ingredient appears at the beginning of the list is a mistake, as I believe Monica is trying to point out.
Of course, 1 gram of sugar per teaspoon equates in very general terms (assuming similar weight and density, since a teaspoon is a measure of volume) to 1/5 grams, or 20%, which is indeed a fairly high concentration.
I don’t know if I could ever quite fruit, but I have quite added sugar before. I’ll have to check out her cookbook because while I don’t know that I would completely quite sugar, I like keeping my intake low. The granola sounds great too!
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Have you made a pumpkin
version of this?
I do have this pumpkin granola recipe on the blog!
Excellent post on quit sugar. I am very happy to read. Thanks for providing great information. Thanks.
https://blog.mindvalley.com/how-to-stop-eating-sugar/
I’ve been eyeing up this recipe for months and finally got around to making it. The proportions of pumpkin seeds, coconut, chia seeds, etc. was perfect! Had some trouble with the oven temp… I put the granola in the oven for 20 mins at 250C and it still looked soggy without a hint of golden. I bumped the temp up to 300C for another 15 minutes (stirring once mid-way through) and it finally got to the crisp and color I was looking for. Also, I could have easily gotten by with only 3 or 4 tbsp coconut oil as the final product is still fairly greasy, but the overall flavor is still really delicious and I will definitely be making this recipe again. 🙂
This is so helpful and great recipe too!
I just made this for breakfast this morning, and it is sooo good. Love that it is not overly sweet like some granola. I will definitely be making it again:)
Just bought this, so excited! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂 I have struggled with sugar addiction my whole life, really looking forward to this.
A bunch of my friends are doing this 8-week challenge. Interested in seeing what they say about it!
Oh cool, are your friends here in Richmond?
I am so happy this book inspired you to clean up your habits!!! 🙂 I quit sugar 13 years ago and I have never ever looked back! It might be a tad bit difficult at first, but it will just become second nature soon!
★★★★★
Very great interview! Thanks for sharing all of this information with us! I am definitely going to pin this so I can refer back to it!
That granola sounds uh-mazingly delicious. Thanks for sharing the interview.
Great interview! I think I might have a problem with my thyroid, but had never considered sugar as being a factor in that. There’s only one thing Sarah said that kind of pushed my buttons… our digestion system has in fact changed since the “cave man” days (by the way, who were the cave men? Neandertals? Homo erectus?) Something that most people don’t understand about evolution is that it does not stop. Just because our anatomy seemingly hasn’t changed since Neandertals went extinct, doesn’t mean that evolution has stopped. It’s constantly working, which means our digestion system did not just come to a stand still thousands of years ago. It continues to evolve! Just a scientific point of view on the matter!
Can’t wait to check out Sarah’s book. Looks great!
It takes many, many thousands of years plus, at a minimum, for evolutionary changes/adaptations to occur. I also don’t know anyone that thinks that human ‘evolution has stopped’, especially in relation to the extinction of Neanderthals? (the correct spelling). Given that only around 1-4% of the modern human genome is traceable to that of Neanderthals, any comparisons or conclusions related to this are spurious at best.
Great interview and the granola pics look fabulous!!
Interesting interview! I’ve considered cutting out processed sugar completely, and definitely have lowered my intake, but I haven’t ever considered cutting it out completely. I might have to pick this book up and give it a try!
Great interview! I “quit” sugar a bit over 18 months ago – I used to CRAVE it and pretty sure I was a bit addicted! I used to get crazy “brain fog”, my mood was all over the place and I had low energy levels. After only about two (incredibly hard!) weeks I started to feel a bit better, and I now barely have no processed sugar in my diet. I’ve lost about 10 pounds without trying – and kept it off – and I actually exercise now less as I dont feel I have to work off calories, I just exercise for health. If any of this resonates with any of you (or any of what Sarah mentioned above) I definitely recommend cutting sugar from your diet. I read her book (albeit after I’d already stopped eating sugar) and it’s full of loads of tips and information, so a great resource!
Oh wow, this looks really interesting. I’m totally guilty of “needing” something sweet after a meal 😉
This is probably a stupid question, but does no sugar mean no wine?
Good minds think alike. I asked the same question. haha
In the book Sarah mentions that wine, beer and pure spirits (liquor) have minimal fructose because the fructose is converted to alcohol. The drier the wine, the better. Fortified and dessert wines are a no-go. She also mentions that one or two drinks in one sitting is best because alcohol has its own fat metabolism and health issues and it’s also addictive.
Long story short, you can still drink wine in moderation. Woo-hoo! 🙂
Interesting post! I’m curious about the book and wonder if a sugar hiatus would affect my mood/health.
After I read your comment about Sriracha, I had to go check my bottle. I was surprised; mine is only 1gram per teaspoon serving. Are you saying it’s packed with sugar because that’s listed as the second ingredient, or because you eat several servings of it per day so it ends up being a lot for you? Personally, I think 1gram per serving is not bad!
Mine only has 1 gram per teaspoon as well, but like you said sugar is the second ingredient. Also there are 96 servings in a bottle so 96 grams of sugar in the bottle, which is about 24 teaspoons or 24 packets of sugar.
I personally don’t think 1 gram per serving is bad either, but 1 teaspoon is pretty small and given that I was using Sriracha on my breakfast, lunch and dinner, I was probably having a about 3 teaspoons as day. So.. 3 extra grams of sugar and 300 extra grams of sodium — just from Sriracha. And I noticed that I was having to use more and more because it wasn’t tasting as spicy to me anymore (I guess I was growing a tolerance to the spice).
In the grand scheme of things, it’s really not that bad and I’ll still use Sriracha from time to time. 🙂
In most countries, yes, the order that ingredients are listed on the label reflects their percentage of the product. In products with few ingredients, however, something may appear as 2nd or 3rd on the list, whilst still being a relatively minor amount in regards to other ingredients. Therefore, concluding that a product has a large amount of a particular substance just because this ingredient appears at the beginning of the list is a mistake, as I believe Monica is trying to point out.
Of course, 1 gram of sugar per teaspoon equates in very general terms (assuming similar weight and density, since a teaspoon is a measure of volume) to 1/5 grams, or 20%, which is indeed a fairly high concentration.
This sounds delicious! Are the nutrition facts based on coconut oil, or butter?
Coconut oil.
This granola sounds delicious! Are the nutrition facts based on coconut oil, or butter?
I used coconut oil in my recipe so that’s what I used for the nutrition facts. 🙂
great interview! and the granola sounds amazing
I don’t know if I could ever quite fruit, but I have quite added sugar before. I’ll have to check out her cookbook because while I don’t know that I would completely quite sugar, I like keeping my intake low. The granola sounds great too!
I have been really wanting to check out this book! It looks awesome!
Great interview. I’ll have to check out Sarah’s cookbook!