Vegan 3 ingredient nut free granola is so crunchy and perfectly sweet! Easy to customize with your favorite add ins, and it’s the perfect snack or topping for breakfast bowls. Oil free, gluten free, and naturally sweetened!
Happy Monday, friends! Have I got a treat for you today. Forget the store-bought granolas that are not only ridiculously expensive, but full of not so good for you ingredients. As in, things I can’t even pronounce, let alone want to be shoveling by the handful into my mouth. Cause let’s be real, who’s stopping at just a bite or two of granola?
Not me, that’s for sure.
It just so happens that most of my favorite foods are not crunchy in texture. Sweet potatoes, bananas, oats, dates, almond butter – all wonderfully mushy. As a result, sometimes I just get a super strong craving for something crunchy! For those times I’ve always got my beloved air-popped popcorn, whole buckwheat groats, and of course, nuts.
Joe and I laugh all the time about how in college it used to be a weekend tradition of ours to go make our own nut mix from the bulk bins at the grocery store. I seriously looked forward to it all week. We’d always get a mix of almonds, cashews, walnuts, and raisins. We’d finish 75% of the bag in the car, and demolish the rest in about 5 minutes flat once we got back to one of our houses at the time.
I’m laughing now because like, what a weird memory! Of course I have approximately 17 million other amazing college memories from my time at Ohio State, but nut mix stuck out. Foreshadowing for eventually becoming even more food obsessed and publishing my recipes on the internet, but I digress. It was so good! The perfect combination of crunchy, chewy, and sweet. Oh and way too addicting, clearly we had no self-control when it came to saving any at all.
As a tribute to our wild weekend nights getting nut mix at the grocery store, I’ve made a couple nutty, snacky recipes for the blog – like this super nutty granola, and rawnola that ya don’t even have to bake! Both are great as toppings on smoothie bowls or nice cream, or just for a quick, healthy snack.
I wanted to create a new crave-able, super crunchy, perfect for snacking/topping recipe, minus all the nuts. Don’t get me wrong – I love nuts, and they have so many amazing health benefits. Their fats are VERY good for you, so I would never say to avoid nuts in any way because of that. But, they are calorie dense, and sometimes I just want to eat a whole bunch of crunchy/granola-esque stuff, without consuming half a day’s worth of calories in one sitting.
Enter: vegan 3 ingredient nut free granola! Crunchy AF, no nuts necessary.
Ingredients for 3 ingredient nut free granola
- Rolled oats: I use old fashioned, rolled oats for the best texture and healthy whole grains.
- Buckwheat groats: buckwheat can be tricky to find at the grocery store, but I love this brand. It’s super nutrient-dense and SO crunchy.
- Date syrup: date syrup helps the granola stick together into great clusters, and sweetens it naturally.
Tips for making vegan 3 ingredient nut free granola
- Let the granola sit out after baking. After baking, let the granola sit out for a couple hours at room temperature. This is when it gets super crunchy!
- Add whatever you like after baking and cooling. Mix in some chocolate chips, raisins, coconut, or dried fruit after the granola is totally cool.
This vegan 3 ingredient nut free granola has been made several times since I first tested the recipe, and has been given glowing reviews by friends and family, vegan and non-vegan alike! It is SO crunchy, sweet, and full of fun add-ins. Oh and it’s addicting as hell, as any good granola should be!
Xo,
Sara
Vegan 3 Ingredient Nut Free Granola
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup buckwheat groats
- 1/2 cup date syrup – I used the Date Lady brand
- 1/2 cup add ins of your choice: raisins, vegan chocolate chips, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, mix the oats and buckwheat.
- Add the date syrup and stir until the oat/buckwheat mixture is evenly coated with the date syrup.
- Line a baking sheet with a nonstick mat or parchment paper and pour the granola onto the sheet, then bake for 20 minutes.
- Allow the granola to cool for 2 hours on the counter – this is when it will get crunchy.
- Add in raisins, chocolate chips, etc. if desired, break the granola into chunks and store at room temperature.
Hey I love the simplicity of this recipe. BUT – I’m in Aus and the date syrup you mentioned is literally $61 a jar and has to be bought online as it just doesn’t exist anywhere here. What would you suggest subbing in?
Thanks!
Hi, Hannah! Ya The Date Lady stuff is a smaller company based here in the United States, so that makes sense. I would maybe try maple syrup, as it’s probably sticky like the date syrup, but I’ve never tried it myself. If you do let me know how it comes out! 🙂
Thanks! Will do 🙂