Mom's Granola

Prep: overnight Bake: ~1 hr May 2026

Ingredients

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 3 tablespoons flax seeds
• 3 tablespoons chia seeds
• ½ cup pumpkin seeds
• ½ cup pecans
• ½ cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)
• ¾ cup dried cranberries
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (ginger can be substituted 1:1)
• ½ teaspoon cardamom
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1½ cups pitted dates (or 1½ cups store-bought date paste)

Instructions

1. Soak the pitted dates overnight in just enough water to cover them. You can also use store-bought date paste from the baking aisle. It's single ingredient and works perfectly.
2. Mix all dry ingredients together.
3. Hold back about ¼ cup of the water the dates soaked in and purée the rest into a date paste.
4. Add the date paste and vanilla to the dry ingredients and mix together until everything is covered in the date paste. Make sure you get the paste on the chia seeds. They fall to the bottom.
5. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and spread the granola on it to bake.
6. Bake at 250°F for about an hour. Turn it every 30 minutes so it bakes evenly and dries out. Mine burns if it goes longer than an hour.
7. Once cooled, use the parchment paper to pour the granola into a container.