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Steel Cut Granola Recipe

Crunchy, homemade, Steel Cut Granola delivers a medley of healthy ingredients for a high ​fiber, gluten free breakfast. Made with steel cut oats, pure maple syrup, chopped pecans and dates, dried fruits, and finished with cinnamon and vanilla. We love our steel cut granola in yogurt parfaits, over sliced fresh fruits, or mixed in with a scoop or two of peanut butter.

Steel cut granola is hearty and slow to digest giving you hours of energy and loads of nutrients. You can easily customize this recipe to fit your preferences and dietary needs.

Steel Cut Granola
steel cut granola

Making homemade granola is a creative way to experiment with different flavors, and textures in healthy ingredients. You will find several of our recipes for steel cut oat breakfasts linked at the bottom of this post. We also have a fantastic bread with steel cut oats!

Bob’s Red Mill organic steel-cut oats are available to us and we use them often. This is a great brand, and the strong oats have risen in popularity due to their rich flavor, heartier texture and long satiation.

Steel cut oats are not like regular oats. Steel cut oats are smaller and fairly chewy, thick, and dense. They have a very different texture than regular oats.

Steel Cut Granola
Steel cut granola all by itself, chock full of pecans, Cherries and dates!

What is the difference between steel cut oats and regular oats?

The advantage of steel cut oats over regular oats are many, nutritionally speaking. Steel cut oats are not cooked and processed as rolled oats are. Just chopped in steel blades. Steel cut oats also provide protein, iron and other valuable nutrients we all need.

They do need to be cooked as they have a strong, gritty texture that many find unpleasant. Our steel cut oat granola recipe bakes the grainy oats to give a rich, flavor filled experience.

Instant Steel Cut Oats
uncooked steel cut oats
Steel Cut Granola
Fresh out of the oven. Ready for the dried fruits!

What can I add to steel cut granola?

This steel cut granola is full of chia seeds for even more fiber, antioxidants, healthy fat and minerals. The pecans, flax, coconut oil all have healthy fats, trace elements, antioxidants and help with digestibility. While pure maple syrup sweetens the granola with natural, healthy sugars.

Vanilla extracts, dried fruits, and cinnamon compliment the mixture and deepen the flavor of the rich oats and nuts. You can change up the dried fruits you use, the nuts, and the seeds; or omit them all together to give you a simpler granola that is still nutritious and delicious.

Steel Cut Granola
A delicious part of a healthy breakfast!

Steel Cut Granola Recipe

Steel Cut Granola
Yield: 36 servings

Steel Cut Granola

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Additional Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 2 hours

Crunchy, Homemade, steel cut granola delivers a medley of healthy ingredients for a high-​fiber, low-​sodium, vegetarian, dairy-​free and gluten-​free breakfast. Make it yourself for a powerhouse nutrition boost!

Ingredients

  • 4 Cups steel cut oats
  • 1/2 Cup whole flax seed
  • 1/2 Cup Chia seed
  • 1/4 Cup coconut oil
  • 1/2 Cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 Cup water
  • 1/4 Cup honey
  • 2 Tablespoons cinnamon
  • 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 Cup chopped pecans
  • 1/4 Cup dates, chopped
  • 1/4 Cup cherries, dried

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
  2. Mix oats, flax, chia seeds and chopped pecans with the cinnamon in a large bowl.
  3. In an 8 cup microwaveable bowl put the coconut oil, maple syrup, water and honey.
  4. Microwave one minute. Stir the mixture until the coconut oil is completely melted. Add the vanilla and stir.
  5. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and stir well. At this point you may add more oats if it's too wet. Steel cup oats do not absorb water like regular oats do. Feel free to adjust the oats and water until you are satisfied with your consistency.
  6. Bake for 20 minutes on a greased baking sheet and stir the granola. Bake another 20 minutes and stir again. The granola is done if it is browned slightly and dry. It will continue to dry as it cools so don't over bake it!
  7. Remove from oven and pour it back into your big bowl. Add the dates and cherries and mix it well.
  8. Store it in an airtight container after it has completely cooled.
  9. This granola should stay fresh several weeks in an airtight container

Nutrition Information

Yield

36

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 152Total Fat 7gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 0mgSodium 3mgCarbohydrates 21gFiber 4gSugar 6gProtein 4g

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Here are some more of our best granola recipes!

Nidia

Friday 14th of July 2023

Hello, Thank you for your recipe, I tried it yesterday with a little change, instead of coconut oil , I used apple sauce (1/4 cup) and add 1 tablespoon of oil and I did not have maple syrup, so I used brown sugar. I really liked this recipe!

Diane

Friday 14th of July 2023

Hi Nidia, How nice to know you enjoyed this recipe. Thanks so much for coming back to add your encouraging review and sharing your tips on the recipe. I'll have to try applesauce instead of the coconut oil. Thanks so much and have a great day!

Louis

Tuesday 19th of July 2022

Do you need to cook the steel-cut oats in water before you add them to the granola mix? The recipe only calls for a half cup of water...is that enough to actually cook four cups of dried oats?

Diane

Tuesday 19th of July 2022

Hi Louis, We don't actually cook the oats in this recipe. Adding the water sort of steams the dry ingredients in with the other liquids.The oats are crunchy rather than creamy. That's the texture I prefer for granola. Be sure to tell us how you like it. If you prefer a creamier cereal you might want the overnight steel cut oats recipe. Have a wonderful day!

Kris

Sunday 17th of May 2020

How might I adjust this recipe to create granola bars with the steel cut oats?

Diane

Sunday 17th of May 2020

Hi Kris, Ok...this is going to be a completely different recipe now. Off the top of my head I'd suggest you cook the oats as directed on their package to get them wet and sticky. Maybe Replace the water with a nut butter of your choice. Or just omit the water altogether. At this point mix everything together. If you like the consistency oil an 8 x 8 pan Or line it with parchment paper. PRESS it firmly and evenly into the pan. (I use a bottom of a glass over a piece of parchment). You can bake it like we did with the Choco Bar Recipe. Or you can try setting it raw into your freezer for 30 minutes or so to chill and set. Remove the bars from the pan. Chill until set (for baking) and cut into pieces. Please let us know how it works out for you!

Silvia

Thursday 28th of February 2019

Unfortunately my oats burned, even though I followed the instructions for heat and timing- I would recommend adding a little more oil to prevent that!

Diane

Thursday 28th of February 2019

Hi Silvia, Hmmm. Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I've made granola like this many many times over the years with great results.

So glad you stopped by with your tip on this recipe. I hope it goes better next time for you. Suggestions for you: Your oven may be hotter than mine. Try turning down the heat or shortening the baking time a bit. Also I do use a wooden spoon around the edges every once in a while to keep the outer edge from over toasting.

Hope this helps. Have a great day!

Patti

Monday 18th of September 2017

Why do you not crush the flax seed? I always thought you did not get the nutritional punch from flaxseed unless it was crushed. Shouldn't you crush it first before putting it in the granola?

Diane

Monday 18th of September 2017

Hi Patti, You are quite right. Flax meal has a lot of nutrients released when crushed. Whole flax does have more calcium and folate and tiny amounts more of omegas, iron and protein and fiber according to this Popsugar article and others I have looked at. The problem with whole seed is it goes straight through when eaten, if not crushed, without releasing the nutrients. By toasting the flax in this granola it gets plumper and more brittle. I really enjoy the crunchiness of it in the granola. I do chew it so the nutrients (at least some of them ) are released. If you prefer to crush your flax before adding it this recipe that's fine. But I encourage you to buy WHOLE seeds to retain the flax freshness. Ground flax oils oxidize and go rancid fast. This will make the flax bitter and not very nutritious after all. Wheat germ has this same problem. Crush the flax in a mortar and pestle or your coffee grinder just before using to maximize the nutrients. Thanks so much for your great question! Have a great day!

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