Vanilla & Coconut Granola (high-protein) With an Introduction to Vegan Cereals

Packed with protein and nutrient-rich oats, nuts, dried fruit and chocolate – you’ll bounce out of bed for this granola! Don’t forget to sprinkle over your favourite toppings – we’ve provided lots of options below, including protein-rich extras.

Photograph by Niki Webster.

Gluten free
Wheat free
Kids recipe

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Preparation time

10 min

Cook time

30 min

Total time

40

Meal

  • breakfasts

Servings

15

Ingredients

Drizzle

  • 125g/½ cup syrup (eg maple or agave)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp sugar (ideally coconut sugar or brown sugar)
  • 3 tbsp nut butter of your choice
  • 3 tbsp coconut oil (use odourless/culinary if you don’t want a coconutty taste)

Granola

  • 500g/3¼ jumbo rolled oats (use gluten-free if needed)
  • 150g/1¼ cups mixed seeds (eg pumpkin, sunflower, flaxseed)
  • 100g/1 cup desiccated coconut
  • 30g/¼ cup flaked almonds
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 150g/1½ cups pecans, roughly chopped

Extras

  • 120g/1 cup dried fruit (eg cranberries, cherries, chopped apricots, chopped dates, raisins)
  • 2 handfuls of vegan dark chocolate chips or cacao nibs (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F/Gas Mark 3.
  2. Line two large baking trays with greaseproof paper.

Drizzle

  1. In a small saucepan and on a low heat, gently heat all the ingredients until combined and runny. Set aside.

Granola

  1. In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients apart from the pecans.
  2. Pour the drizzle over the top and thoroughly combine.
  3. Evenly distribute the granola over the two baking trays then place in the oven for 15 minutes.
  4. After 15 minutes take out both trays, turn the granola, then evenly sprinkle over the pecans and stir thoroughly.
  5. Swap the position of the trays in the oven and bake for another 15-25 minutes or until the granola is golden brown, stirring frequently (try to clump the granola into clusters while stirring).

Extras

  1. Leave the baked granola to cool then stir through the dried fruit and chocolate chips or cacao nibs, if using.

Serving suggestions: fresh berries, fresh mint, frozen berries, plant milk, vegan plain yoghurt, vegan protein powder

Tip: if you would like a chocolaty granola then add the chocolate chips when the granola is still hot and thoroughly combine.
Tip: add freeze-dried raspberries or strawberries to the cooled granola if you’re feeling fancy.

See below for more information and toppings…

Optional extras / notes

Introduction to vegan cereal

The good news is that a lot of cereals are already vegan! Sadly some cereals out there still contain added dairy (whey powder, milk, yoghurt) or honey. Often cereals are fortified with Vitamin D, derived from lanolin – which is sheep’s wool! Thankfully, there are vegan-friendly, plant-based Vitamin D sources in use as well. However, look out for the vegan labelling or read the ingredients list – if in doubt check with the manufacturer.

All the big supermarkets and Ocado have a ‘vegan’ filter on their website so you can search for cereal and then apply the ‘vegan’ filter for more detailed listings.

Check out our Guide to Vegan Cereals for more information!

Breakfast provides the perfect opportunity to bump up your daily dose of protein and other nutrients. Cereals and plant milks (especially soya) are often high in protein and when you add nuts and seeds, such as pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, hemp, chia, flax, fresh or frozen berries and dried fruits, even better.

Here are our favourite protein-rich additions for your best-loved bowls: buckwheat, chia seeds, flaxseed, ground almonds, hemp powder, nut butter, nuts, pea milk, powdered peanut butter, pumpkin seeds, seed butter, shelled hemp seeds, soya milk, sunflower seeds, toasted quinoa, vegan protein powder, vegan yoghurt, wheatgerm

Here are the rest of our tastiest vegan cereal toppings: bananas, cacao nibs, chopped apple, chopped apricots, chopped dates, chopped mango, cinnamon, cranberries, dark chocolate chips, desiccated coconut, dried fruit, fresh berries, frozen berries, goji berries, maple syrup, nectarine slices, peach slices, pineapple (fresh or dried), plant milk (soya, oat, almond, cashew, coconut, hemp, pea, rice), raisins, raw cacao powder or cocoa powder, sultanas, toasted coconut flakes, vegan yoghurt

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