Last week I was doing a photoshoot with my dear friend Andrea Bemis for her second cookbook and we were talking about our love for granola, but how sometimes we love it without the oats. Can granola even be granola without the oats? You bet it can, and really, I think I love it more. This recipe came together by a need for me to clean out my pantry. So use this as a guide. Please don’t feel like you have to go out and buy every single nut in this recipe, just alter your proportions for what you have on hand. Have hemp seeds, add those! Sunflower seeds, that’s great too! You’ll notice I didn’t add in any dried fruit. You absolutely can, it would be delicious. I didn’t have any on hand, and I thought the maple syrup provided enough sweetness. Speaking of maple syrup, I tested this recipe without any sweetener and it is still delicious and works great. So feel free to remove, or lower the amount of maple syrup used here. Just taste the mixture before it goes in the oven, you can always add a bit more salt or sweetness. Does it look too dry, add a bit more coconut oil. Want to go the savory-sweet route, add some chopped rosemary, it’s one of my favorite!

So as you can see, this recipe is very flexible, as are most of my recipes. But if you are going to follow one rule, please, oh please let the granola fully cool before breaking up into chunks. This helps everything crisp up together and makes all of those delicious bits.

This granola makes for a great snack on the go, topped on your yogurt, but my favorite is actually as a cereal with coconut milk.

Grain-Free Cardamom Granola
makes about 3 cups

INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup almonds, roughly chopped
1/3 cup pecans, roughly chopped
1/3 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1/3 cup hazelnuts, roughly chopped
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup coconut flakes
1/4 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup flax seeds
1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup maple syrup

STEPS
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl combine all of the ingredients. Spread out on a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake granola, stirring every 10-15 minutes, until golden brown and dry, about 45-50 minutes. Remove from the oven and let fully cool on the tray, it will crisp as it cools. Break up into small chunks and store in an airtight container. The granola will keep for 2-3 weeks.