Cranberry Orange Granola

Sweet, citrusy granola made with freshly squeezed orange juice, fragrant orange zest, almonds, and dried cranberries. This cranberry orange granola is about to become your favorite fall snack. 

My obsession for sweet, crunchy granola knows no bounds. This recipe for cranberry orange granola is loosely based off of the flavors in my favorite cocktail, the cosmopolitan.

Bright, juicy orange and sinfully sweet dried cranberries combine to create one amazing batch of granola.

Granola is one of my very favorite snacks. I keep a small container of it in my purse for snacking emergencies. Hey, you never know when you’re going to have a fierce snack attack. I like to be prepared at all times.

Plus, I get cranky when I’m hungry.

Granola also prevents me from reaching for a brownie or extra scoop of ice cream. Don’t get me wrong, I love to indulge, but my metabolism is beginning to slow at the ripe old age of thirty. These days, I have to put forth more effort to squeeze into those skinny jeans I love so dang much.

Whenever I get the urge to binge eat dark chocolate peanut butter cups, I march right on over to the granola jar instead. It works about 60 percent of the time.

I never said I was perfect.

One bowl and a rubber spatula are all you’ll need to whip up this recipe. I’m not one to skimp on flavor, so I used the juice and zest of one orange to give this granola a bold burst of orange flavor.

If you look closely, you can see the vibrant orange flecks of the orange zest baked into the oats.

I used maple syrup to sweeten the granola and give it that classic maple flavor that bakes up and has your house smelling like a fall candle. Um, cranberry, orange, and maple–hello, flavor town.

If you want to make a gluten-free version of this granola, swap the old-fashioned oats for certified gluten-free oats.

To give this granola some protein and crunch, I added chopped raw almonds and raw sunflower seeds. They toast up in the oven and get cozy with the oats and cranberries.

I know I’ve said this about the maple pecan granola, banana maple granola, and cookie butter cinnamon chip granola, but I think this might be my favorite granola recipe yet.

Print Recipe

Cranberry Orange Granola

Yield: 6 cups

Total Time: 55 minutes

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1 cup almonds, roughly chopped

1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1/3 cup maple syrup

zest and juice of 1 orange

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, add oats, shredded coconut, almonds, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, and cinnamon. Stir to combine.

Whisk together melted coconut oil, maple syrup, orange zest and juice, and vanilla extract. Gently fold the mixture into the oat mixture with a rubber spatula until evenly coated.

Transfer the mixture to your prepared baking sheet, spreading the mixture evenly onto the pan. Bake for 50 minutes, or until golden brown. Do not stir the mixture as it bakes.

Place the pan on a wire rack and cool the granola completely. Using your hands, gently break up the granola into bite-sized chunks. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Swap certified gluten-free oats for the old-fashioned oats to make this granola gluten-free.

All images and text ©One Sweet Mess.

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