Holiday Gingerbread Granola

Almonds, cashews, pecans, pumpkin seeds, cranberries, and apricots help to flavour and bulk up this Holiday Gingerbread Granola. Baked with maple syrup and butter, and seasoned with cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, this healthy snack makes a very delicious giftable treat!

What if I told you that you could make a batch of homemade granola weeks in advance and save yourself all the time in the world putting together a delicious, giftable Christmas gift? Honestly, Dear Reader, all you would have to do is package the Holiday Gingerbread Granola into mason jars or cellophane bags! I made a batch of this granola last year and we at it all ourselves. It makes a great snack and a very delicious and healthy breakfast too.

I’m going to tell you all about this recipe and how you can make it in your home this holiday season, but first, I want to tell you about what you can expect from Lord Byron’s Kitchen this Christmas. I know we’re getting closer to the big day, so it’s time to get to the easier recipes! Before I get into today’s recipe, let me make mention of the five previous holiday confection countdowns that I just finished up this year.

Back in October, I kicked off the holiday season with a holiday recipe series called Lord Byron’s 12 Holiday Trifles Series and followed that up with a second series called Lord Byron’s 12 Holiday Breads and Loaves. Next was a second volume of my 12 Bars and Squares of Christmas! You can find the first bars and squares series here! After that came the seventh annual instalment of Lord Byron’s 24 Cookies of Christmas!

I know we’re getting closer to the big day, which means that most of us will have less time to bake. That is why I’m sharing this new series with you called Lord Byron’s 12 Homemade Holiday Gifts Series! This will be the last series for the 2024 holiday season, so let’s get to it!

LORD BYRON’S 12 SNACKS & TREATS OF CHRISTMAS

Another holiday series, Lord Byron? Yes – why not!? Welcome, Dear Reader, to my last Christmas series this holiday season! I’m calling this series Lord Byron’s 12 Homemade Holiday Gifts Series. Unlike the 24 Cookies of Christmas series that ended a few days ago, this series will focus on easy-to-make snacks and treats that are both delicious and festive.

I will try to keep the recipes in this series quick and easy too. Most of them will require the help of a microwave rather than an oven. And, a bunch of them will involve more assembly-type tasks rather than preheating, beating, whipping, etc.

Just like every other series that I’ve shared here, this series will also see a new snack or treat recipe shared with you, Dear Reader, each and every single day for the next 12 days – even on Saturday and Sunday! You might be asking yourself, how many Christmas recipes could one possibly have or need? Well, I say you can never have too much of a good thing. And, I love having lots of choices. Who wants to prepare the same holiday snacks and treats year after year?

SUBSCRIBE NOW SO THAT YOU NEVER MISS OUT ON NEW RECIPES!

You really don’t want to miss one of these recipes, so if you have not yet subscribed to Lord Byron’s Kitchen, I encourage you to do so. That way, a new recipe will be emailed to you every day. You won’t have to bother to come looking for it! Like in previous holiday recipe countdowns, I like to mix up the recipes in the series so that there is something for everyone. Are you ready!!??

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Honey – I don’t like to use good or fancy honey when baking or cooking. Stick to the cheap stuff and save your good honey for tea or drizzling.
• Brown Sugar – For sweetness and caramelization.
• Maple Syrup – This will add flavour and help with stickiness. Granola should be clumpy, after all.
• Butter – You can use salted or unsalted butter here. It won’t make any difference at all.
• Extracts – I’m using both vanilla and almond. You can use all vanilla, but I would not use all almond extract. It will overpower every other flavour.
• Salt
• Spices – You will need ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and allspice.
• Oats – Be sure to use quick-cook rolled oats.
• Seeds and Nuts – All of these are roasted and unsalted – almonds, cashews, pecans, and pumpkin seeds.
• Dried Fruit – I’m using diced dried apricots and dried pitted cranberries.

HOW TO MAKE HOLIDAY GINGERBREAD GRANOLA

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly coat two baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. Next, add the following ingredients to a saucepan: honey, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, vanilla and almond extract, and salt. Over low heat, cook and gently whisk continuously until the butter is melted and the brown sugar has dissolved. The mixture should be very smooth and silky. Do not overheat or boil. Be patient and keep the heat low. Once done, remove the mixture from the heat.

Add the following ingredients to a large mixing bowl: quick-cook rolled oats, pecans, cashews, almonds, and pumpkin seeds. Toss these well to mix. Pour the sauce mixture into the large mixing bowl as well. Stir well until everything is coated and combined. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking sheets and place in your preheated oven for 40 minutes. After 20 minutes, stir the granola mixture and rotate the baking sheets.

Once golden brown, remove the granola from the oven and let it rest and cool to room temperature for 20 minutes. Divide the cranberries and apricots among the two baking sheets and stir in to combine. Divide the cooled granola into clean jars or cellophane bags. Apply the lid or tie it with a festive string. Decorate to suit your personal tastes.

O CRANBERRY, CRANBERRY, WHEREFORE ART THOU CRANBERRY?

Have you been reading my blog for any length of time? If you have, you will already be aware of what I’m about to discuss. If you haven’t, it’s important that you understand how frustrating it can be to be a food blogger at times. Food bloggers are always working ahead of schedule. When it comes to Christmas recipes, for example, we are baking cakes and cookies as early as September! In fact, I finished this biscuit recipe and the photographs you see here in August!

We do this so that we can test the recipes to make sure that they will work for you at home. The recipes need to be plated and styled. Photographs need to be taken. We have to write up the post and make sure we please the folks at Google, otherwise, our recipes run the risk of being buried in cyberspace somewhere. There are many other steps that I’m skipping here, but all of it is to say that we need the time to get the recipes out to you a few weeks before you need them.

Now, as a huge fan of Christmas baking – the 200+ Christmas recipes here at Lord Byron’s Kitchen are proof of that – there’s one thing that frustrates me every single year. There’s a tremendous lack of things like fresh cranberries for many months of the year. Don’t even get me started on holiday confections like Hershey’s chocolate or candy canes! Luckily, this Holiday Gingerbread Granola uses dried cranberries and dried apricots which you can find all year long!

OATS – WHICH TYPE TO USE

For baking, regular rolled oats and quick cook oats are usually interchangeable in a recipe. If your recipe calls for quick-cook oats and you only have old-fashioned rolled oats, pulse the old-fashioned oats in the food processor a few times. If quick cook oats are used in a recipe in place of old-fashioned rolled oats, the texture will be different, but that will probably matter very little in most recipes.

In contrast, steel-cut oats, which are sometimes referred to as Irish oatmeal, most closely resemble unprocessed oats. To produce steel-cut oats, the groats are chopped into pieces with large steel blades. Steel-cut oats have a coarser, chewier texture and nuttier flavour than rolled or quick oats. They also take longer to prepare, with average cooking times varying from 15–30 minutes. When baking, I always stick to quick cook oats.

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down below the recipe card to find my Follow Me on Social Media box and never miss another recipe!