Cranberry Granola

When we visited Leavenworth, Washington in March, one of the most memorable foods we ate was the delicious granola we had at breakfast at the Enzian Inn. All the food was delicious, but the coconut granola was showstopping as far as I was concerned.

It was chock full seeds and nuts and it was scrumptious but not too sweet – right up my alley in the morning (just like homemade muesli). I had to ask the woman working there about it. She said it was made in house by their chef and that I could get the recipe downstairs at reception. WHAT?!

You know I couldn’t resist, so I traipsed down there and kindly requested a few recipes from the breakfast spread, including the granola recipe…

Coconut Granola

I was a little taken aback at first because the recipe they gave me made four gallons of granola. Now, I do love granola, but I just don’t need 4 gallons of granola on hand.

So, I finally sat down one day and crunched the numbers to pare it down to a recipe that makes about 8 cups – the perfect size for my first try (and any normal person, I assume)!

The sweetness in this coconut granola recipe comes from orange juice, so you should expect an orange flavor when you make this recipe. I’m not always big on orange flavors, but I do always love cranberry and orange, so this is still a win in my book!

And now I’m enjoying it every morning! It’s so tasty. I’ve had so many failed homemade granola attempts in my life that I’m elated this recipe worked out so well. There are a decent amount of ingredients, but the recipe is really easy to follow otherwise…

What’s in Coconut Granola

Shredded or flaked coconut is a very common ingredient in granola – and for good reason!

This coconut granola recipe, includes rolled out, sesame seems, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds – along with the shredded coconut.

To hold all those flavors together, you’ll need honey, oil, molasses, and orange juice.

What’s the difference between muesli and granola?

Granola and muesli have many of the same ingredients, but muesli is generally uncooked (possibly toasted), while granola is mixed with wet ingredients and baked to get a crunchiness that’s super tasty!

Other Coconut Granola Flavors

I feel like the Inn in Leavenworth nailed the ingredient combination in this granola, but I understand having taste preferences or not having exactly the right ingredients!

The dried fruit is probably the easiest thing to swap out. Truthfully any dried fruit cut small would be fine. Raisins are the obvious substitutions, but dried figs (like my dried fig granola) would probably be my second pick.

Whatever you have on hand or are craving, however, is totally fine!

For the seeds (sesame, pumpkin, and sunflower), you can use any combination. The sesame seeds can get overwhelming quickly, but otherwise they’re fine to use in any quantity.

You could also play around with hemp seeds and flax seeds!

And the chopped nuts is up to preference. I’ll almost always opt for pecans in baking, but almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts or cashews would each be delicious.

How to Not Burn Granola

So. I’ve long loved granola and I tried so many times to make granola in years past, but I could never get it right. I’d always burn some or all of it. It was either crisped to oblivion or just had that burnt flavor. Then I found out what I was doing wrong.

In a homemade granola, the fruit should always be added after cooking. If the fruit is in the oven with the granola, the sugars release and burn up – hence the burn flavor even when nothing has crisped up.

Where was this memo all those times I messed up my granola and stunk up the kitchen?

How to Store Granola

Granola of any flavor should be stored in sealed containers. Since granola is baked liked cookies, it will start to get stale (like cookies). Any of these containers would be great!

Extra granola on your hands? Try these soft peanut butter granola cookies or these muesli cookies! It’s also a great homemade ice cream topping!

More Breakfast Recipes

Want some other breakfast recipes? Try this salmon frittata, fried oatmeal (not as weird as it sounds!), ginger smoothie, make-ahead breakfast tacos, fig granola, hard boiled egg toasts, and toasted muesli with yogurt!