Homemade Maple-Pecan Granola with Chickpeas and Quick Oats

This Homemade Granola with chickpeas and quick oats is easy to make and absolutely irresistible! Packed with protein, this cinnamon-sweet treat makes a healthy and convenient snack or a delicious topping for yogurt or ice cream.  

When you make your own granola, your family gets the best – no refined sugar or salt and no unhealthy fats or preservatives.

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Let it be said that I’m never buying store-bought granola again.

I made my first-ever batch of homemade granola this week, and oh my! It’s sweet, it’s crunchy and the maple-cinnamon flavour is divine. I can’t stop eating it.

I’ve been stirring it into yogurt, sprinkling it over a banana slathered with peanut butter, and tossing it back by the handful. It’s a whole level up from the kid-friendly granola I make for my daycare hooligans.

Oh My. So Good. And so healthy!

You may also like our Healthy Breakfast Cookies. They’re wonderful for snacking on, and don’t contain any flour, egg, refined sugar or oil.

Use whatever ingredients you have on hand

If you’re not crazy about chickpeas in your granola, you don’t have to use them. There’s lots of room for play with this recipe. For example, most homemade granolas call for old-fashioned oats, but I had quick oats in my pantry and they worked beautifully. I used pecans in my granola, but feel free to use cashews, peanuts or almonds instead. Go ahead and switch out the pumpkin seeds for sunflower or hemp seeds if you like.

Want to add some fruit? Add raisins, dried cranberries or dried apricots would be lovely. Got a sweet tooth? Toss in a some chocolate chips. How about coconut and dried pineapple for a tropical twist? The possibilities are endless when you’re making your own granola.

Roasting Chickpeas

Adding chickpeas was a spur of the moment decision. I had a tin of them in the cupboard, and thought “why not”.

I’d never roasted chickpeas before, so I did some googling and discovered I could make them in my Air Fryer . I’ll tell you how below, and I’ll give you a link for roasting them in the oven.

Ingredients:

• 15 oz. tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1  cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup quick oats (or instant oats)
• 1 tsp melted coconut oil + 1 tsp real maple syrup (for roasting chickpeas)
• 1 tsp melted coconut oil + 2 to 3 tbsp real maple syrup (for roasting remainder of ingredients)

Making your granola:

First, the chickpeas. Decide whether you’re roasting your chickpeas in an air fryer or oven. Then choose one of the following methods:

How to roast chickpeas in the air fryer:

With the temperature set to 200º, preheat your air fryer. While it’s heating, rinse and drain your chick peas. Don’t worry about removing any loose skins. They’ll roast up nice and crispy.

Toss your chickpeas with 1 tsp melted coconut oil and 1 tsp maple syrup, and pour the whole lot into the basket of your air fryer.

Cook for 15 minutes, stirring at the half-way mark. Your air fryer may be different than mine so just check a couple of the chickpeas to see if they’re hard and crunchy. If they’re not quite there yet, cook a little longer, checking every 5 minutes.

How to roast chickpeas in the oven:

If you’re roasting your chickpeas in the oven, pop over and see how they do it at My Whole Food Life.

They’ve used 2 cups of chickpeas, which is a little more than our 15 oz. can, so you can probably scale back on the coconut oil and maple syrup a bit. I wouldn’t worry about it though. The cinnamon would be optional, as I didn’t use cinnamon for the chickpea step of my recipe.

Once your chickpeas are roasted, set them aside. You’ll add them to the granola at the very end.

And now, to bake the rest of granola:

Place the rest of your ingredients (pumpkin seeds, quick oats and chopped pecans) on a baking sheet.

Note: if you’re adding dried fruit and/or chocolate, you won’t add those until your granola has cooled.

Drizzle all over with the oil and syrup, give it all a good stir. Mix it all around to get everything nice and coated. Don’t worry if some of your quick oats clump together. Those will turn into crunchy-sweet little clusters as they bake.

Bake your granola in the oven for about 20 minutes, stirring at the half-way mark. Oven temperatures may vary, but your granola should be done when the mix is dry and crispy.

Remove the granola from the oven and allow it to cool.

Add your chickpeas to the granola mixture, and give it all a good stir.

Transfer to an air-tight container or glass jar for storing.

Isn’t it great to know you can make your own granola whenever you want?

More Fresh and Healthy Recipes:

• Easy Homemade Gazpacho
• The Best, Fresh Homemade Guacamole
• Healthy Fresh Summer Rolls
• Fresh Basil Pesto

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