I’m a sucker for crunchy homemade granola, but I always wish there was a way to make it without loading in the oil and sugar. Well, when I made a batch of Pumpkin Spice Granola last fall, I accidentally discovered that fruit purée can act as a binder in a similar way to the oil and sugar in traditional granolas. Sooooo, I decided to experiment with that theory some more and I made this No Sugar Added Banana Nut Granola.
For this Banana Nut Granola, I combined mashed up bananas and unsweetened apple sauce to act as the binder. When the granola bakes, the fruit purées dehydrate and bind the oats together into beautifully crunchy clumps. Perfect! And instead of adding a big slosh of oil, I just went with some natural peanut butter. The oil in the peanut butter helps makes things crispy and adds a wonderfully nutty flavor (banana+peanut=YUM). I also added a handful of unsweetened shredded coconut for more texture and flavor, and tossed in a few crushed up banana chips at the end.
The result is a rich, nutty granola with a faint whisper of natural sweetness, but it’s not a sweet granola like something you’d buy off the shelf. If someone in your house does like sweet granola, simply customize their bowl with a quick drizzle of honey (honey+PB=YUM). And I can’t lie, a few chocolate chips thrown in at the end wouldn’t be a terrible idea, either. Not terrible at all.
No Sugar Added Banana Nut Granola
Servings 12 (2/3 cup each)Ingredients
- 2 bananas, mashed (about 1 cup) ($0.51)
- 1 cup unsweetened apple sauce ($0.79)
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter ($0.93)
- 1 tsp cinnamon ($0.10)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract ($0.28)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 6 cups old fashioned rolled oats ($0.99)
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut* ($0.91)
- 1 cup banana chips* ($0.92)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Mash the bananas with a fork until they’re mostly smooth (a few chunks are okay). Measure the banana mash, then add enough unsweetened apple sauce to make 2 cups total (about one cup of each).
- Place the bananas and apple sauce in a small sauce pan with the peanut butter, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and salt. Stir and cook over low heat for about five minutes, or until the mixture is evenly mixed and warmed through (this makes it more runny and easier to mix with the oats).
- Add the dry oats and shredded coconut to a very large bowl. Pour the banana, apple sauce, and peanut butter mixture over the oats and coconut, then stir well until all of the ingredients are incorporated. There should be no clumps of dry oats left.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, then spread the oat mixture in an even layer over the parchment, no more than one inch thick. If there is too much for one baking sheet, divide the mixture between two sheets.
- Bake the granola in the 300 degree oven for one to one and a half hours, stirring once after 30 minutes, then every 15 minutes after that**. Baking time will vary depending on whether you use one or two baking sheets. Keep an eye on the granola and stir every 15 minutes towards the end. The granola is finished when it is crisp and golden brown. Allow the granola to cool completely. Crush the banana chips into small pieces, then stir into the granola. Store the cooled granola in an air-tight container.
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Notes
Nutrition
How to Make Banana Nut Granola – Step by Step Photos
Start by preheating the oven to 300 degrees. Mash up two bananas. Measure the mashed bananas (should be around one cup) and then add enough unsweetened apple sauce to make two cups (about 1 cup of apple sauce).
Add the banana and apple sauce to a small sauce pot with 1/2 cup natural peanut butter, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and 1/4 tsp salt.
Heat and stir these ingredients together over low heat until it is smooth and warmed through. This just helps make it a little more fluid and easier to mix with the oats.
Add six cups of old fashioned rolled oats and 1 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut to a very large bowl.
Pour the banana/apple sauce/peanut butter mixture over the oats and coconut, then stir and stir and stir until everything is very evenly mixed. You should not have any dry oats or dry clumps left in the bowl.
Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper, then spread the wet granola over the sheet in an even layer. If there’s too much granola for one baking sheet (it shouldn’t be layered more than one inch thick), divide it between two baking sheets. I prefer parchment for this as opposed to foil because foil reflects the heat and can cause faster browning. Bake the granola for one to one and a half hours, stirring once after 3o minutes, then every 15 minutes after that. Cooking it low and slow like this helps the fruit purée to dehydrate rather than “cook”. The time it takes your granola to bake will depend on how thick it is piled on that baking sheet, so if you use two it will bake faster. You’ll know it’s done when it’s all dry and slightly golden brown.
Break one cup of banana chips into smaller pieces so that you get more pieces in every bowl and bite.
After the banana nut granola is finished baking, stir in the crushed banana chips.
Make sure to let the banana nut granola cool completely before storing it in an air-tight container. This recipe makes about 8 cups, or 12 servings of 2/3 cup.
Oooh yeah, pour some ice cold milk over THAT.
TRY THESE OTHER GRANOLA RECIPES:
What’s the shell life? Can apple sauce be avoided?
Unfortunately the apple sauce is critical to this recipe. As long as it’s baked until dry, this should be shelf stable for about a week in an air-tight container.
This recipe sounds wonderful! Can’t wait to try it! I like to give Granola as gifts at Christmas time in a pretty Mason jar. I’m curious though. Why is this recipe called “Banana Nut Granola” when there’s no nuts added? The peanut butter?
It has peanut butter! :D
I have made this a few times now and it is fantastic! I was intimidated to make granola at home, but these is so easy and the results are amazing! My 2 year old can’t get enough of this! Thank you!
Thank you!
I tried this out both as posted, and with tahini instead of pb + extra banana instead of applesauce (to offset how runny my tahini is) + cardamom thrown in because to my palate it’s best friends with tahini. both ways, it’s sensational and officially my go-to granola recipe. thanks so much for this!
Oooh, tahini! Great idea, thanks for sharing it!
When You say no sugar added, and then add 1 cup of honey I’m thinking you don’t know what sugar is…
There is no honey in this recipe.
Where is there honey listed in the ingredients?
Where do you see Honey in the recipe?
2 bananas, mashed (about 1 cup) $0.51
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce $0.79
½ cup natural peanut butter $0.93
1 tsp cinnamon $0.10
1 tsp vanilla extract $0.28
¼ tsp salt $0.02
6 cups old fashioned rolled oats $0.99
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut* $0.91
1 cup banana chips* $0.92
Hello,
Do you have any recommendations for replacing the coconut? My husband (for some insane reason) doesn’t like them.
Thoughts?
Sliced almonds would be pretty good. :)
How long can this store for? Can you freeze it. It looks yummy, but I know I’m the only one in my house that will eat it and I usually only add 1 TBS to my yogurt each day, so I’m thinking it would take me a long time to eat….
Because it’s “dry”, it should last quite long when stored in an air-tight container. Keeping that air-tight container in the freezer isn’t a bad idea if you’re eating it at a super slow pace. That will stunt any possible spoilage.
I’m making it now but using a crock pot for even cooking & no burning. Got the idea from “Not your mother’s slow cooker cook book”. And used some almond & banana extract instead of vanilla. BTW, there has not been one recipe that hasn’t been a hit at our house, which is HUGE (2 kids agreeing)
How long did you cook it in the slow cooker, and at what setting?
This looks delish and I am raring to make it. But I have calorie restrictions due to insulin intolerance. Would you know how many calories this is per 100 grams?
I’m sorry, I don’t know. :(
If you put this recipe into My Fitness Pal and measure out how many 100g servings there are. For the sake of easy numbers, if this recipe yields 1000 calories total and you get 10 100g servings, it will calculate out that each serving is 100 calories. It is a bit round about, but you at least know if it fits within your calorie restrictions or not.
Hey, I’m not a genius at math, but I tried counting the calories for each serving, and I believe it would be around 150-200kcal per serving.
This really worked well for me. Nice clumpy, crisp lumps of granola. My 2nd batch, I did add about a half cup of brown sugar to the peanut butter mixture for a little extra sweetness. It’s great with yogurt and fruit, and also in a bowl with milk.
Hi Beth, is the texture very hard? I would like to cook it for my 1.5 year old toddler:)
Mine was crunchy, yes. If you bake it for less time it will be softer, but then it will also be more perishable because of the moisture. It can be stored in the refrigerator, if needed.
Your recipe’s absolutely fantastic. This is the healthiest, most natural binding formula I’ve seen anywhere — and it works great. After playing around with it a bit, I’ve found that omitting the cinnamon and vanilla makes it slightly sweeter, since you don’t have their bitterness counteracting the banana. Following a previous commenter’s advice, I baked it at 375°, but stirred it after 15 minutes and then every 7 minutes, for a total oven time of about 45 minutes. This recipe’s now my regular go-to for granola; great results while still pretty healthy.
We have nut allergies in my house, so I used Sunbutter instead of peanut butter. I also tossed in some sunflower seeds with the banana chips. Delish! Beth, I love your granola recipes. It’s hard for us to find granola without nuts and so many store-bought options aren’t all that healthy. Better to make it at home. Keep the great granola recipes coming!
You can use aguva nectar to help with the sugar issues. We did granola as a home-ec assignment and it has a very, very slight sweet taste to it. I also added pumpkin seeds (raw, shelled unsalted), Sunflower seeds the same as the pumpkin seeds and pecans. I used dried apricots, apple slices and dried pineapple to help with the sweet department. It came out really good and filled almost the entire empty 3lb. coffee can.