Gingerbread Granola

About This Recipe

With Christmas on the horizon, I decided to create a Christmas time holiday granola – Gingerbread Granola!

If you love gingerbread or gingerbread cookies, you’ll love the flavors in this festive gingerbread-spiced Christmas granola!

It’s made with simple ingredients like heart healthy wholegrain rolled oats, pecans, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, desiccated coconut and coconut flakes. It’s also full of warming spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and cardamom and sweetened with maple syrup and molasses.

Your house is going to smell amazing with all the cozy aromas as it bakes!

To keep with the gingerbread theme, I added some candied ginger (crystallized ginger chips) and dried cranberries after baking. However, you’re welcome to add any type of dried fruit you love or leave them out – it’ll taste great either way!

This is the ultimate feel-good holiday granola that is wholesome, filling and delicious. It also happens to be vegan, gluten-free, great for meal prep and quick and easy breakfasts during this busy month.

Bonus? This homemade Christmas granola is perfect for holiday gifting! My family and friends always love receiving a mason jar filled with my homemade granola during the holidays. They say it’s such a delight to receive such a thoughtful gift!

Whether you gift your loved ones with it this holiday season or enjoy it yourself over Greek yogurt, with milk, or on its own as a nutritious snack, I think you’ll love this festive granola!

Ingredient Notes and Substitutes

• Old Fashioned Rolled Oats: Use gluten-free certified oats if needed.
• Nuts: I went with a combination of coarsely chopped unsalted raw pecans and walnuts but use any nuts you love!
• Seeds: My go-to combination of seeds for homemade granola is raw unsalted sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds (also known as pepitas). However, feel free to swap either out or add some hemp seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, etc.
• Buckwheat Groats: These add a delicious crunchy texture and savory, nutty flavor! They’re also packed with nutrients. Substitute with more oats.
• Coconut: Both desiccated coconut and unsweetened coconut flakes are used in this recipe to add additional healthy fats. Feel free to use either one or use unsweetened shredded coconut instead.
• Spices: We’ll add warming spices to this gingerbread granola and use ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and cardamom.
• Fine Sea Salt: Use half the amount if using table salt, which is saltier.
• Olive Oil: Makes the granola crispy and crunchy once baked. I love the mild flavor of extra light tasting olive oil in granola but you can use melted coconut oil for a slightly denser texture or any neutral flavored oil.
• Pure Maple Syrup: Naturally sweetens and binds our healthy granola together without adding any brown sugar. You can use honey instead but note that this granola will not be vegan with honey.
• Molasses: A classic sweetener in gingerbread! I used full flavor unsulphured molasses (not blackstrap molasses). Substitute with black treacle or use more maple syrup instead.
• Vanilla Extract: Adds warming vanilla notes.
• Candied Ginger: Also known as crystallized ginger. It has a spicy-sweet and zingy flavor!
• Dried Cranberries: I love adding dried cranberries to granola but you can use more candied ginger or add raisins or other dried fruit instead.

Full ingredient amounts are in the recipe card below.

How to Make Gingerbread Granola

Below is a step-by-step overview on how to make this granola recipe. Keep scrolling down to get to the recipe card below with the full recipe and detailed instructions!

Prep: Preheat oven to 165°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3. Line a large rimmed baking sheet pan with parchment paper (nonstick cooking paper).

6. Serve! Serve immediately with Greek yogurt, milk or enjoy on its own as a snack! Or you can store it for later.

Storing

Store in a sealed airtight container such as a mason jar in a cool dry area like a kitchen cupboard or pantry. If stored properly, the granola will stay fresh for up to 1 month.

That said, my last batch of this gingerbread granola stayed fresh and still retained its crunch for 6 weeks before I finished the jar!

For longer storage: Store the granola in sealed Ziploc bags in the fridge or freezer for 3 months. I recommend freezing small portions in zipper bags so that you thaw only what you need. Note that the granola will become less crunchy and crispy if stored for an extended period in the fridge or freezer.

Serving Suggestions

• Protein yogurt granola bowl: I love this granola sprinkled on top of Greek yogurt that’s mixed with half a scoop of snickerdoodle or vanilla protein powder and with orange slices or tangerine (Mandarin orange) on the side. It’s one of my favorite easy high protein breakfasts that’s also full of healthy fats!

• Blended cottage cheese dessert bowl. I also enjoy it in a blended cottage cheese dessert bowl. I mix some blended cottage cheese with nonfat Greek yogurt, cinnamon, apple pie spice and sugar-free maple syrup. Then top with some of this gingerbread granola, homemade spiced pecan butter, orange zest and pomegranate seeds, diced apples or any other fresh fruit I have on hand.

• On top of ice cream. It’s the perfect dessert and pairs well with white chocolate peppermint bark ice cream, pumpkin spice ice cream or good old vanilla ice cream!

Variations

• Use other nuts. Unsalted raw sliced almonds, cashews, pistachios, macadamias, chopped walnuts, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, etc.
• Use another liquid sweetener. Date syrup, agave syrup or honey would work well too. You can even use low sugar or sugar-free maple syrup if preferred.
• Make it refined sugar free. Use more maple syrup instead of molasses, naturally sweetened dried cranberries or other dried fruit and homemade sugar-free candied ginger. Naturally sweetened dried fruit is typically sweetened with apple juice.
• Use different dried fruit. Raisins, dried apricots, dried cherries, dried strawberries or raspberries, etc.
• Add chocolate chunks or chips. Stir through some milk, dark or white chocolate chips after the granola cools.
• Leave out the dried fruit. This warm spiced ginger granola tastes delicious with or without the cranberries. You can use all candied ginger if preferred too.
• Vegan. I used Brer Rabbit full flavor unsulphured molasses which is vegan. However, some types of molasses are processed using cow bone char and aren’t vegan. If you follow a vegan diet, be sure to use molasses that is vegan certified. Another tip is that organic molasses is always vegan regardless of if it is dark, light or blackstrap molasses. This is because producers cannot use bone char to make certified organic sugar or molasses.

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