Boy have I missed granola lately! It makes for a quick snack, packs easily for trips, and forms the perfect substitute for store-bought cereal. I’ve avoided granola for the past few months because it’s usually loaded with grains, but I’ve kept my eyes open for another option. Recently, I was chatting with Molly, hearing about the new animals and other recent developments over at Apricot Lane Farms. We came up with this recipe together. . . seeds, nuts, ground flaxseed, coconut, and date paste to sweeten. For this version, I added some pumpkin pie spice, but you can try substituting spices or add any number of dried fruits for variety.
I used ground flaxseeds and dehydrated the granola at a low temperature. You may be tempted to accelerate the process at a higher setting, but keep in mind that flaxseed oil is very sensitive to heat. It has a smoking point of 225 degrees F, so a higher heat will oxidize the oils found in flaxseeds. Keep this in mind when you bake or cook with flaxseed oil or flaxseeds. It’s best to use flaxseeds or flaxseed oil when dehydrating or in cold dishes.
Granola – Grain Free
I soak the nuts and seeds to help release the phytic acid (phytic acid can cause digestive issues for many). One evening, soak the nuts and seeds overnight. The next evening, dehydrate the granola in the oven. It takes a little bit of patience, but hardly any hands-on work. Also, keep in mind that this granola isn’t super sweet. If you’d like a sweeter granola, then add more date paste to taste (I’d start with an extra 1/4 cup). Makes about 7 1/2 cups.
For the granola:
2 cups cashews
2 cups raw pecans
2 cup raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 tablespoon Celtic sea salt
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1 cup unsweetened coconut
1 cup date paste (recipe below)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Directions:
Place cashews, pecans, and pepitas, and 1 tablespoon sea salt in a large bowl. Cover with room temperature water. Stir to combine. Leave out on the counter for 8-24 hours. Preheat oven to 170 ºF and adjust rack to middle position. Drain and combine mixture with flaxseed, coconut, date paste, vanilla and pumpkin pie seasoning. Pour mixture out onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread into an even layer. Dehydrate in the oven for about 10 hours or until granola is crunchy. Store in an airtight container for 3-4 weeks.
Date Paste
1 cup medjool dates, pitted
1 cup hot water
Directions:
Place dates in a blender or food processor. Turn blender or processor on and slowly add in hot water. Leave the machine on for about 1 minute, until smooth. Pour into a glass jar and store in the refrigerator.
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{ 36 comments… read them below or add one }
My kind of breakfast!
This looks amazing! I’ve been looking for a sugar free granola recipe for ages. I’ve also been trying to figure out what to do with the dates I bought besides eating them stuffed with peanut butter lol.
This looks GREAT! Nice job!
Thanks for talking through the recipe with me.
This looks delicious! I think i will try it with sunflower seeds and some hemp seeds instead of the nuts (I’m allergic
) I love the date paste, I tried it in your dairy-free coffee creamer recipe! Great idea!
Yes, a mixture of pumpkin, sunflower and hemp seeds would taste really nice!
This looks yummy! I’m not ‘doing’ flaxseed. Is it necessary to the mix or can I skip it?
You can just omit the flaxseed in the recipe.
I love granola and I especially love making it at home because it makes my kitchen smell amazing!
Carrie, love this grain free option. I do something similar over here. Always a hit!
Thanks for the idea of making date paste. Such a nice idea for adding sweetness to your grainless granola. Why do you leave your nuts that you’re soaking out of the refrigerator? I always soak mine overnite in the fridge, but I also do not add salt to mine as you do yours.
From my understanding the nuts need the salt and room temperature water to draw out the physic acid. I got the information from “Nourishing Traditions” by Sally Fallon.
I was pining for a grain free granola just this morning! Thank you so much!! This recipe just made my day!!!
YUM! I was craving oatmeal this morning and I too am avoiding grains. This is perfect! I’m going to make some today. awesome!
This sits well with the detox, no sugar, no grains – Clean and Lean program I am following – thank you.
I was just thinking about trying to find a grain-free granola to add to yogurt, so thanks a bunch! This one looks perfect and easy enough to make substitutions for a change.
i can not lie…i’ve missed having cereal! this is great!!
This sounds so yummy! Love it!
This looks SO good!! This would make such a great snack or wonderful breakfast. I love it!
This sounds soooo yummy! I am definitely going to have to try this one out. How long does the date paste last in the fridge?
It lasts for 12 days or so. I love using it to add a bit of sweetness to different recipes!
The perfect breakfast!!!!!!great as always
Thanks for posting this, Carrie. My brother is a granola addict but is try to cut out grain so I’ll definitely send this recipe his way.
Giggle…. I’m new here, and am very excited about this website and community! I’d like to start out with humour: In the paragraph on the first page I saw when I logged in, I saw ‘milk, cream, and eggs from pastured cows.’ I would love to see those eggs from cows! : ) Sorry, just can’t resist teasing – I hope it made for some smiles! : )
Haha…thanks for pointing that out.
Seriously … I don’t think you’ve posted a single mediocre dish! They’re all amazing, and this looks equally delightful!
Hello Carrie. I’ve popped on over to your blog time and again but checked in today because a reader shared with me that you have gone gluten free. Well, imagine my surprise when I found that you have gone GAPS. I am just starting my grain free adventure and need to take the GAPS book out again to see if we can do this. My son is deathly allergic to egg whites and dairy so it will be a challenge. (Also, he doesn’t care for broth
.).
Anyway, I am going to try this recipe for sure, with some modifications. I did want to share that I’ve done some research on baking w/ flax and have read that the ALAs are quite stable when you don’t separate the flax from the oil. Just thought you might like to know
.
I was just thinking today that I need to find some kind of grain-free granola. I was diagnosed with celiac in August and am avoiding all oats for now. Thanks for this recipe, it looks great!
I am so excited to try these. Is there a way I could use this granola base to make granola bars?
Funny you mention that, because I’m just about to post a granola bar recipe (grain free). It will be up next week!
I love this recipe and cannot wait to make it! Was wondering if I could substitute the medjool date for a different kind of date? Would it make a big difference?
I haven’t tested this with any other kind of date. I picked medjool because it can be found at just about any grocery store. You could give it a try! I also saw your email about this topic – I always buy my dates with the pits in them and then remove the pit myself.
could you substitue honey for the date paste? if so, how much? also, if I choose not to dehydrate, because I am short on time, what temp and how long? thanks
Yes, you can use honey instead. I would use 3/4 a cup and if you want to bake it, I’d try 325ºF for about 25 minutes.
I just have to say that I usually make my granola using 100% maple syrup, but with the price, I wanted to try a different sweetener. I thought I’d sub in a date paste and did a quick google search to see if there were any existing granola recipes using a date paste. Yours was the first site to pop up! I should’ve known you’d have exactly what I was looking for! Can’t wait to try this!
Thanks.
I hope you enjoy it!
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