This Spiced Gluten-Free Granola Without Oats is both low histamine and free of refined sugars, sprinkled with just a few spices & a touch of sweetness. It's perfect for eating with milk or topping cut-up fruits, or even just enjoying by the handful. The best part is, it's ready in just under half an hour!
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About this recipe
Simple enough for beginners. This was one of the first granola recipes I developed way back when, so I know it's easy & detailed enough for beginners and home chefs alike!
Balanced low histamine snack. I'm always looking for new low histamine snacks, and this granola hits all the sweet, salty, spiced notes I'm looking for. But if you overbake it it can get too dry to eat on it's own, so keep close watch on the oven.
Heart-healthy fats. Due to the pumpkin seeds, pecans, hemp seeds, chia seeds, and the seed or nut butter, this low histamine granola recipe is a great source of heart-healthy fats as well as being relatively high in fiber and protein.
Ingredients
Raw Pumpkin Seeds: ideally you'll have soaked & dried your pumpkin seeds to reduce antinutrients before using them in this recipe. Whether you have nor not, pumpkin seeds are a great source of zinc, magnesium, and protein, as well as adding a fantastic crunch.
Raw Pecans: hopefully you've previously soaked & dried your pecans to reduce antinutrients, but regardless, pecans add a light nutty taste to the granola without adding more strong flavors.
Chia Seeds: small but mighty, chia seeds don't add very much to the overall flavor of the granola, but they're a great source of fiber and healthy fats. If you can't have, don't have, or don't like chia seeds, you can use whole flax seeds instead.
Cocoa Butter: using cocoa butter as the fat in this recipe makes for a chocolaty scent while this is cooking, though it adds minimal chocolate flavor to the final dish. Make sure to use a high quality cocoa butter (same as cacao butter), and if you need to substitute, coconut oil will be your best bet.
Nut or Seed Butter: this is part of what acts as the binder in this recipe, and you can use any low histamine nut you'd like if you use a homemade nut or seed butter.
Ginger: while the ground ginger won't overpower your granola, it is one of the best low histamine spices you can keep in your pantry, as it's both a natural antihistamine and it tastes fantastic!
How to make low histamine granola: step-by-step instructions
Step 1. Preheat your oven to 300F (150°C), then measure the puffed rice, pecans, hemp seeds, and pumpkin seeds into one bowl and combine them well.
Step 2. Measure and combine the melted cocoa butter & nut butter in a separate bowl, for about 30 seconds. I got some chia seeds in mine, but no worries if this happens to you; it won't affect the final flavor.
Pro-tip: make sure your cocoa butter is totally melted, otherwise it will harden into clumps and won't fully combine with the seed butter, making for an inconsistent granola.
Step 3. In a separate bowl, add your coconut sugar, chia seeds, salt, and spices, then blend until well-combined.
Step 4. Drizzle the cocoa butter mixture over the puffed rice & seeds, stirring until well-combined.
Step 5. Sprinkle the sugar & chia seeds over the sticky mixture, and stir until everything is evenly incorporated. To make a low histamine granola without oats means using another grain in its place, but because puffed rice is bulkier, it needs even more solid coverage.
Step 6. Put down a piece of parchment paper or a silicone mat on a baking try and spread granola evenly on your sheet pan, and then bake for 15 minutes.
Step 7. Take the granola out of the oven and stir it lightly to ensure even baking, then bake for 7-10 more minutes. Keep a close eye on it in the oven, as it can burn quite suddenly, so definitely check on it after 7 minutes. Remove it from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before using immediately (or storing in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks)!
Recipe notes & tips
Freezing the granola. You can freeze any of my homemade granola recipes for up to 6 months (or refrigerate for up to 2 weeks). To defrost it, simply toast the amount you want to eat in the oven at 250°F (120°C) for 3-4 minutes.
Changing the Nuts/Seeds. To use different nuts or seeds, just make sure the pieces of nut or seed are similar in shape to the one it's replacing and preferably raw (also to avoid double toasting). Check out my guide to low histamine seeds and nuts.
Different Sugar. If you want to use a different sugar (date sugar, organic white sugar, brown sugar, etc.), you can swap out an equal amount depending on your desired sweetness.
What to do with low histamine granola?
- top some pear slices with nut or seed butter & granola
- have it with pomegranate seeds & non-dairy milk
- sprinkle it on non-dairy, low histamine ice cream
- as a bed for fresh fruits
- to top a salad
- by itself
FAQ About Spiced Granola
This spiced granola can keep in an airtight container in a cool and dry pantry for up to 1 week, in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Yes, you can use an oil other than cocoa butter, such as ghee or coconut oil.
You could use quinoa flakes, rolled oats, popped sorghum, buckwheat groats, or any other tolerated whole grain.
Have you tried this recipe?
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📖 Recipe
Spiced Gluten-Free Granola Without Oats
Ingredients
- 1 ½ Cups puffed rice alt. puffed buckwheat or puffed quinoa
- ½ Cup raw pecan pieces soaked & dried
- ⅓ Cup raw pumpkin seeds soaked & dried
- ¼ Cup hemp seeds alt. sunflower seeds
- 2 Tablespoons chia seeds alt. whole flax seeds
- 2 ½ Tablespoons coconut sugar
- 1 ½ Tablespoons melted cocoa butter or coconut oil* ~18g by weight
- 2 Tablespoons nut butter or seed butter of choice
- ¼ teaspoon salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla powder
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon optional
- ⅛ teaspoon cardamom optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C), then measure the puffed rice, pecans, hemp seeds, and pumpkin seeds into one bowl and combine well.
- Measure and combine the melted cocoa butter & nut butter in a separate bowl, making sure your cocoa butter is totally melted, and set aside.
- In one final bowl, combine your coconut sugar, chia seeds, salt, and spices.
- Drizzle the cocoa butter mixture over the puffed rice & seeds, stirring until well-combined.
- Sprinkle the sugar & chia seeds over the sticky puffed rice mixture, and stir until everything is evenly incorporated. Making low histamine granola without oats required replacing them with another grain, but that one needs even more solid coverage.
- Put down a piece of parchment paper or a silicone mat on a baking try and spread granola evenly on top, and then bake for 12-15 minutes.
- Take the granola out of the oven and stir it lightly to ensure even baking, then bake for 7-10 more minutes. Keep a close eye on it in the oven, as it can burn quite suddenly. When done, allow to cool for 10 minutes before enjoying.
Notes
Nutrition
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Veronica says
Hi,
I've just read your recipe for Spiced Granola. I'm new to a low histamine diet. Why is it necessary to soak & then dry the pumpkin seeds and pecans?
Many thanks
Max says
Hi, Veronica! I cover it more in-depth here, but basically there are a lot of protective plant chemicals on the outsides of most nuts, seeds, legumes, and grains which make them tougher to digest (the plants' way of discouraging us form eating them). Soaking them gets rid of the majority of these chemicals (lectins, phytic acid, etc.), and then rinsing them to remove the soak water & drying them in the oven on low temps will get them tasting exactly as they did before. Then you can store them safely in the freezer for several months & use as needed! 🙂