I’ve been craving carrot cake for weeks, but summer’s coming up quickly and I really don’t need to be eating cake right now. I decided to make carrot cake granola instead! It’s loaded with all of the goodies that you’d find in your favorite carrot cake: coconut, walnuts, raisins, and warm spices. I even got all trendy and threw in some quinoa, which adds a nutty flavor and slightly chewy texture. This is one of my new favorite treats – I keep disappearing into the kitchen to sneak a hand full. It’s also great sprinkled over yogurt – I recommend coconut or lemon!
Because the carrots and quinoa add so much moisture to this granola, it takes longer to make than my other granola recipes – about an hour total. You’ll start it at high heat to toast the oats and walnuts, then reduce the heat to dehydrate the carrots. The result is a great combination of crunchy, chewy, and soft textures.
Carrot cake granola is my contribution to this month’s leftover club, where food bloggers ship their leftovers to faraway friends. A bag of this carrot cake granola is headed off to Dani from Dining with Dani.
Carrot Cake Granola
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup shredded carrot about 2
- ¾ cup cooked quinoa
- ½ cup walnuts
- ¼ cup shredded coconut
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- dash salt
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup raisins
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with a silicon mat or parchment.
- Mix fist 10 ingredients (through salt). In a separate bowl, mix together honey, coconut oil, and vanilla. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients; mix thoroughly. Spread in a thin layer on the baking sheet.
- Bake 15 minutes; stir. Reduce heat to 225F and bake 45 minutes, or until ingredients are dry and toasted. Remove from oven and let cool. Stir in raisins.
- Store in an airtight container.
A healthy way to eat carrot cake… for breakfast? Count me in!
I’ve made carrot cake oatmeal but not granola – great idea! Love the addition of quinoa.
Delicious. This looks great I am totally going to try this for my next granola.
Oh wow! I could eat this every day for breakfast. Love the flecks of carrot in it.
I pretty much crave carrot cake on a daily basis…so perhaps I should eat this granola instead to curb my cravings! Such a fun treat.
I would never of thought of adding raw carrots to granola – I have to try this as it looks yummy.
what is the serving size? I know you said 20 servings but I just can’t get my head around how many cups of granola it would make and therefore how many servings. I was going to guess 1/4 cup but that would mean that there were 5 cups and it doesn’t seem as though those ingredients would make 5 cups of granola. but what do I know….
1 serving = 1/4 cup.
I didn’t think it was going to make so much either, but 1/4 cup of this and that really starts to add up! (it’s almost 4 cups just with the oats, quinoa, and carrot)
Amazing! You know, I never ate carrot cake as a kid, but lately I’ve been craving it in all forms. I’ve made carrot cake oatmeal, yogurt…and now I think I need to try carrot cake granola!
send ME leftovers!
🙂
like this recipe- would make a nice topping for my new adventures in yogurt making.
Carrot cake + granola will start my day off just right!
Yum…looks delish! I love adding quinoa to my granola!