Strawberry Granola

This strawberry granola has real strawberry flavor baked right in, with a crisp, chunky texture and plenty of pistachios, oats, and seeds.

A concentrated strawberry syrup coats the oats before baking, then freeze-dried strawberries add another burst of bright berry flavor and crisp texture after the granola cools.

Why this recipe works

This granola starts with real strawberries cooked down into a thick syrup, instead of relying only on freeze-dried fruit for strawberry flavor like other recipes. It coats every oat, nut, and seed, so strawberry flavor and aroma runs through the granola itself.

Our quick cooked strawberry puree adds moisture, which can work against crisp granola. So we reducing the syrup quickly on the stovetop first, then finish baking the granola at a low temperature to remove extra moisture and concentrate the fruit flavor.

Freeze-dried strawberries go in only after the granola is completely cool, so they stay crisp and bright. Their smaller pieces and strawberry dust also cling to the clusters for even more berry flavor.

Recipe ingredients

Here’s what you need to make this recipe, including what role each ingredient plays in a successful batch of granola:

• Rolled oats: Provide the base structure of the granola, and they absorb sugars and flavors to form clusters with lots of chewy texture.
• Hemp seeds: Add some nutty, earthy flavor, provide some structure, and a much more tender chew than the oats.
• Pistachios: Add a buttery, nutty flavor, some visual interest, and crunchy texture. Their earthy richness is a nice contrast with the sweet-tart flavor of the strawberries.
• Strawberry puree: Adds concentrated natural strawberry flavor and aroma. Made with frozen strawberries, a bit of water to prevent burning, and maple syrup and honey for sweetness and depth of flavor.
• Coconut oil: Adds neutral fat that coats the oats, seeds and nuts, helping them to brown in the oven and trapping and mixing all of the flavors together. Since it’s solid at cool room temperature, it resolidifes when the granola cools, helping the granola clusters to hold their shape.
• Honey: Adds flavor and sweetness, and a sticky quality that helps to bind the pieces together.
• Maple syrup: Also adds depth of flavor and sweetness, and the sugar in it helps to bind the clusters together.
• Coconut sugar: Adds sweetness and flavor without adding more moisture that might prevent the granola from becoming crispy.
• Vinegar: Helps release the juices from the strawberries and enhances the fruit’s essential flavor.
• Vanilla: Adds depth of flavor and makes the granola taste sweeter without adding more sugar. Vanilla bean paste has vanilla bean seeds for some extra flavor, but pure vanilla extract works well, too.
• Salt: Enhances all the other flavors and balances sweetness.
• Freeze-dried strawberries: Add color, crisp texture, and lots of strawberry flavor. I buy them unsweetened in 1.2 ounce bags from Trader Joe’s, and you can also buy them at many health food stores and online.

How to make strawberry granola (step by step photos)

Make the strawberry puree
For full details on making the puree, see our recipe for strawberry puree and syrup. Star by making the puree with frozen strawberries, some water so they don’t burn on the bottom of the pan, salt, and maple syrup instead of refined sugar. Cook all the ingredients in a pan until the strawberries are very soft.

Puree the whole mixture in the pan with a stick blender, or allow to cool and use a regular blender. Use a fine mesh sieve to train the seeds from the strawberry puree only if their presence in your granola will bother you.

Mix dry ingredients
In a large mixing bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients (rolled oats, chopped pistachios, hemp seeds, and salt to combine well for a uniform granola mixture.

Make strawberry syrup
Cook all of the wet ingredients (1/2 cup of the strawberry puree, honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar, vinegar and coconut oil) over medium heat until the mixture reduces by about 1/4. It will bubble up as the moisture is released and the mixture should turn thick and jammy. It will coat the bottom of the pan and turn much darker. This step concentrates the flavors and reduces moisture so the granola has a nice crispy texture.

Combine wet and dry
Pour the hot strawberry syrup into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix to combine. There’s no need to wait for the syrup to cool before combining, since we’re going to bake everything right away. Just be sure to mix everything thoroughly so the syrup has coated every small piece of dry ingredients for full flavor.

Bake, stir, bake
Transfer the raw granola mixture out on a half sheet pan lined with parchment paper to prevent sticking. Spread the mixture into a thin layer without any jagged edges for full heat exposure so it bakes evenly everywhere, and bake at 325°F for just 10 minutes.

Stir the mixture to redistribute all the ingredients to another part of the baking sheet and bake again for 10 minutes. Stirring halfway through baking ensures that all ingredients get even baking exposure rather than just allowing the edges to get crispy while the center doesn’t necessarily bake all the way through.

Maybe bake again
The granola should be very fragrant now and lightly golden brown all over. Do not stir it again. If you’d like to quit here, you can. But I really encourage you to reduce the oven temperature to 175°F and continue to cook for about an hour to remove as much moisture as possible from the granola in the name of crispiness. This is especially important if your house is humid, which can make the granola sticky.

Let cool completely
Let the granola sit, completely undisturbed, at cool room temperature, avoid humidity as much as possible until it is completely cool. It will continue to crisp up until the last bit of heat has left the tray.

Add freeze-dried strawberries
We add the freeze-dried strawberries at the very end, after baking is done and the granola is completely cool. Otherwise, any residual heat might break down the color of the strawberries, and any remaining moisture would moisten the berries and ruin their texture.

Expert tips

Bake more

Adding real strawberry syrup to this granola adds unwanted moisture that is the enemy of the bet granola. To achieve the ideal crispy strawberry granola clusters, reduce the oven temperature to 175°F after 20 minutes of baking at 325°F and continue to bake for about an hour. I know it’s a lot to ask, but using your oven as a dehydrator ensure the crispiest clusters that stay that way literally for weeks. Weeks!

Add the strawberry dust

Don’t leave behind any ground freeze-dried strawberries at the bottom of the bag when adding the strawberries after the granola has cooled. Those small pieces coat the granola clusters and adds lots of flavor and beautiful pink color.

Use an immersion blender (if possible)

Never blend hot liquid in a regular blender because it agitates the heat which is released as steam, creating enough pressure to launch the lid off the blender. If you don’t have a stick (or immersion) blender to puree the strawberries right in pot you cooked them in, let the mixture cool before using a regular blender.

Ingredient substitutions

As long as you source gluten free ingredients, most importantly oats, this recipe is already gluten free, dairy free, egg free and free of refined sugars. To avoid other allergens or change up some of the flavors, here are some suggestions:

Oats

If you can’t have oats, you can replace them most effectively with rolled buckwheat. If you can find it, you can also replace them with flattened or beaten rice. I also have a full discussion of substitutes for oats in baking.

Pistachios

You can use almost any other nut in place of pistachios, like walnuts, almonds, pecans, cashews, peanuts, or hazelnuts. If you need to avoid nuts completely, you can replace the nuts, by weight, with larger seeds like pumpkin seeds or jumbo sunflower seeds. You can also use more rolled oats, but you’ll miss out on the taste and texture variation.

Hemp seeds

The best substitute for the tender texture of hemp seeds is sunflower seeds. I’ve also made this recipe with basil seeds and chia seeds, and they get pretty hard and it’s just not at good. You can also use chopped pumpkin seeds for a nuttier and crunchier flavor.

Honey

If you can’t have honey, Lyle’s Golden Syrup will mimic the same sticky qualities and similar flavor. You can also just use more coconut sugar.

Strawberries

You can replace the strawberries in the puree and the freeze dried strawberries with another berry, like strawberries, blueberries, or even blackberries. If you’re using blackberries in the puree, you must strain out all of the seeds, since blackberry seeds are relatively large and unpleasant.

Storage instructions

Like all crunchy baked goods, this granola is best kept at room temperature in a sealed glass container. Glass is nonporous, unlike plastic, so it won’t absorb any moisture from the environment, which would ruin the texture. It will keep at room temperature that way for about 2 weeks since the sugars help preserve it.

For longer storage, you can freeze it in an airtight freezer-safe container for about 3 months. It will likely lose its crispness, though, and the freeze-dried strawberries will most likely lose their texture. To restore the crispness, try baking it in a single layer at about 175°F for 30 to 45 minutes.