Healthy Banana Granola

This healthy granola recipe has less sugar than regular granola, and it tastes like banana bread! Whip up some Healthy Banana Granola today!

My mom and dad were mean. They didn’t let us have sugar cereals. All we ever got was Rice Krispies, Wheaties, Chex and Cheerios.

Our grandma was nice. She let us have sugar cereals, and she had them ALL. Fruit Loops, Lucky Charms, Cookie Crunch, Frosted Flakes, and every other sugary cereal that was strictly forbidden at our house.

Alas, we only visited my grandmother about once a year. The rest of the time, it was just boring cereal for us. It was a real treat when my mom would make granola, because it was a welcome change from the Grape Nuts and All Bran.

Most of us today view granola as a “healthy” food. However, lots of store-bought granola has way more sugar than you would ever suspect. A Twinkie has 19 grams of sugar. But you can easily top that with just a bowl of store-bought granola. Don’t be deceived by the labels! Granola has notoriously low serving sizes. That 10 grams of sugar listed on the box is only for 1/4 cup!

That’s why it’s so great to make your own granola! You can completely control the sugar content, and make a granola that is delicious but won’t add to your waistline (or make you feel like a bad mom for serving it to your kids).

Since one of my favorite treats in the world is banana bread, it just makes sense to make granola with these same wonderful flavors!

The key to the banana flavor in this granola is banana chips. Have you ever had banana chips? They are AMAZING! My daughter (who is allergic to everything) loves them! You can find them in most grocery stores in the section with the raisins and other dried fruit. You can also find them at health food stores, like Sprouts and Whole Foods. I will give you a wee bit of a warning. Banana chips are full of sugar. However, you will only have a few of them in each bowl of granola, so you don’t need to worry too much.

To round out this granola, you just need to mix oats, nuts, butter, vanilla, a little sugar and honey, and you’re done!

Actually, you’re not quite done. You need to bake your granola in the oven and stir it every once in a while. Toss in your banana chips at the very end. Then of course you need to let it cool before you dig right in. Waiting will be hard. I am sorry about that.

This recipe uses a fraction of the amount of sugar of other granola recipes, so you can feel good about starting out the day with something full of fiber and nutrition. And your kids might not be so desperate to go to grandma’s.

(If you want, you can even use this granola as a topping for ice cream! Try it with my Classic Vanilla Ice Cream or Banana Cream Pie Ice Cream).

You can find my original post of this recipe on Yellow Bliss Road, where I am a contributor.

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Healthy Banana Granola

Author: Melissa Howell

Ingredients

• 3 cups rolled oats not quick oats
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• ¼ cup butter melted
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• ½ tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup banana chips
• 1 cup shredded coconut optional

Instructions

1. Add the oats and chopped walnuts to a large mixing bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, honey, and vanilla and mix. Drizzle over the oats and nuts and stir.
3. Line a large cookie sheet with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.
4. Spread the granola evenly over the cookie sheet.
5. Bake at 250 degrees for 35-40 minutes.
6. If adding coconut, add it after the 35-40 minutes. Stir the granola.
7. Bake for another 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and stir in the banana chips.
9. Let cool.
10. Store at room temperature.