The Best Low Calorie Granola

Written by Biz | Jul 14, 2017 1:30:00 PM

I think it was in the early 80’s that I was introduced to GORP. One of my teammates had it on a bus to a field hockey game. It had peanuts, raisins and M&M’s and it was delicious. It was deemed the perfect “healthy” snack before a game and it was love at first bite. Um, turns out I could eat that GORP mix (aka trail mix) by the pound full back then. And it was all fine and dandy because I was a four season athlete back then so I could basically eat whatever I wanted and never gain a pound.

Could we just fast forward a bit (okay – 30+ years!) and I am somehow not able to eat like I did in my late teens and early 20’s. I’ve never stopped loving GORP, granola, trail mix – whatever you want to call it, but they are all so deliciously high in calories.

I am particular about my granola. It can’t be too sweet. And it must always and forever be crunchy. Like Nature Valley crunchy, not chewy. And I don’t like loose granola, it has to be snackable in clusters. Am I picky enough about my granola?!

I’ve been tweaking this recipe for the LONGEST time, and most times just throw it out because after recipe developing, one (or all!) of the above criteria has not been met. Until now.

Using a combination of unsweetened apple sauce, honey and brown sugar turned out to be the right combination of sweeteners to make the granola just sweet enough, but stay clumped together in clusters, and it’s crunchy! #winning

Low Calorie Granola

2 cups uncooked quick oats
3 cups puffed rice cereal
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 tablespoons honey
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 ounce slivered almonds
1 ounce dried cranberries
2 teaspoons McCormick cinnamon sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 350. Mix oats and rice cereal together and bake for 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes so the rice cereal doesn’t burn.

Mix applesauce, brown sugar, honey, ground cinnamon and ginger and cook to a boil.

In a large bowl, add the cranberries, almonds, toasted oats and rice cereal, then stir in the boiled applesauce mixture and stir making sure everything is coated. Using your hands, press the oat mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Drizzle the granola with the 2 teaspoons of cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake for 15-20 minutes without stirring.

Once the granola has cooled, break into pieces. It will still be a “chewy” consistency. Don’t worry! Turn off your oven. Once it’s cooled, throw the granola clusters back in the oven and let it sit overnight.

The next day you will be rewarded with low calorie (4 smart points per ½ cup if you are following the Weight Watchers plan!) CRUNCHY granola to make the perfect parfait.

While this recipe takes some planning, no reason you couldn’t whip this up while you are making dinner on a weeknight to enjoy granola later all week long.

If brunch and breakfast is your thing, you need to check out these upcoming brunch classes at The Chopping Block!

Let’s take a poll – I’d love to read it in the comments – what type of granola person are you? Crunchy or chewy? I think you already know what my answer is. #teamcrunchy

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