There’s a lot to love about our sourdough granola. It’s so easy to make and it’s a fabulous use for sourdough starter that’s absolutely delicious. Enjoy these crunchy sweet clusters for breakfast or snack.
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I love finding new ways to cook or bake with sourdough discard, extending its use into something delicious. And if you aren’t using your sourdough discard to make the occasional batch of granola, you are missing out. The sourdough acts as a binder that makes it extra crunchy.
Ingredients for Sourdough Granola
- Sourdough starter: acts as a binder to hold the nuts and the seeds together, but also helps create a light and crunchy coating.
- Cane sugar: You can use any sweetener you have – raw honey and maple syrup are both great – but, cane sugar has a slight molasses flavor that adds a richer, more complex taste to certain recipes than, say, granulated sugar.
- Butter: Using butter in this recipe helps make the granola irresistibly crunchy.
- Sea salt: This helps all the other flavors pop!
- Spices: Think warming spices like ground ginger, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt.
- Rolled oats: Not quick oats or steel cut oats, and you can use certified gluten-free oats if needed like the ones from Bob’s Red Mill.
- Nuts & Seeds: Feel free to add whatever nuts and seeds to your granola that you enjoy! Either way, they offer crunch and nutritional benefits like protein and healthy fats. Here, I’ve chosen pepitas, pecans, and hazelnuts.
- Dried fruit: Adds a chewy texture and a tart sweetness to the granola.
Substitutions and Variations
- Swap sweeteners. Swap the cane sugar for honey or maple.
- Add more sweetener. You can add up to a ¼ cup of sugar to this granola recipe if you want your granola to be a little sweeter.
- Go nuts! Experiment with differents seeds and nuts – almonds, walnuts, and coconut flakes can be swapped in similar quantities as the nuts listed here, but you can also try adding a tablespoon or two of chia seeds or flax seeds.
- Swap the dried fruit. You can also swap the dried cherries I used in this batch for dried cranberries, blueberries, apricot, or mango. The flavor combos are endless!
How to Create Big Granola Clusters
If you like big granola clusters in your granola there are three things you can do. First, make sure you don’t spread the granola in too thin of a layer. Then, don’t stir the granola during the baking time. Finally, let it cool completely before breaking it into chunks! Voila!
How to Make Sourdough Discard Granola
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Whisk together sourdough discard, cane sugar, ground ginger, melted butter, vanilla, and cinnamon so that it is smooth and homogenous.
- Add seeds and nuts to a large bowl with the oats.
- Pour wet mixture onto the dry mixture and stir until everything is fully coated. Spread granola onto a baking sheet in an even layer.
- Bake granola for 35-40 minutes. Stir it about halfway through the cooking time to break it up. When you take it out of the oven, it will still be a tiny bit moist, but will dry as it cools. Trust.
- Remove from the oven and let it cool.
Looking for more breakfast inspiration?
- Try making this blackberry syrup to go in your morning latte.
- These chewy cream cheese everything bagel bites are great for leisurely brunches or meal prep for breakfast on the go!
- And if you’re looking for another way to enjoy oats, try this blueberry oatmeal with maple tahini and sesame crunch.
📖 Recipe
Sourdough Discard Granola
There’s a lot to love about this sourdough discard granola. It’s so easy to make and it’s a fabulous use for sourdough starter that’s absolutely delicious. Enjoy these crunchy sweet clusters for breakfast or snack.
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup starter
- ½-¾ cup cane sugar this is a matter of preference; when I make it for myself, I make it with less sugar, but if I’m making it for my kids I use a little more
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 4 cups rolled oats
- ⅓ cup seeds or nuts here, raw pepitas
- ¼ cup nuts (here, raw pecans, chopped)
- ½ cup another type of nuts (here raw hazelnuts, chopped
- 1.5 cups dried fruit cherries, here
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Whisk together ⅔ cup sourdough discard, ½ cup cane sugar, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 2 teaspoons cinnamon so that it is smooth and homogenous.
- Add your nuts and seeds to a large bowl with the 4 cups of rolled outs. Here I am using ⅓ cup pepitas, ¼ cup pecans, and ½ cup hazelnuts.
- Pour wet mixture onto the dry mixture and stir until everything is fully coated. Spread granola onto a baking sheet in an even layer.
- Bake granola for 35-40 minutes. Stir it about halfway through the cooking time to break it up. When you take it out of the oven, it will still be a tiny bit moist, but will dry as it cools. Trust.
- Remove from the oven and let it cool. Store in an airtight container or freezer bag up to four weeks.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
