Trail Granola
Oven-toasted oats, nuts, and coconut. Bake once at home, eat it all week without a stove.
- calories
- 610
- weight
- 3.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 174
- protein
- 13 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 10 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Snack
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Thru-hike
- Day hike
- Car camping
- Bikepacking
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Dairy free
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Rolled oats | 3 cups | |
|---|---|---|
| Sliced almonds | 1 cup | |
| Cashews or pecans | 1 cup | chopped, whichever is cheaper |
| Sweetened shredded coconut | 1/2 cup | |
| Dark brown sugar | 1/3 cup | |
| Maple syrup | 1/3 cup | |
| Coconut oil | 1/3 cup | melted |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Raisins or dried cranberries | 1 cup | added after baking |
Method
- At home: heat the oven to 250°F. Low and slow is the whole method.
- Toss the oats, both nuts, coconut, and brown sugar in a large bowl.
- Whisk the maple syrup, melted coconut oil, and salt together, then pour it over the dry mix and stir until every oat looks damp.
- Spread it thin on a sheet pan. Bake 75 minutes, stirring once at the halfway mark so the edges do not run ahead of the middle.
- Cool it completely on the pan. It crisps as it cools, not in the oven.
- Stir in the dried fruit and portion into bags.
- In camp: open a bag and eat it dry, or pour in cold water or reconstituted milk powder if you want a bowl.
This is a home granola recipe that already suits the trail, so nothing had to be substituted out. Every ingredient is shelf-stable, there is no dairy anywhere in it, and coconut oil holds up in heat better than butter would. The only trail change is portioning: bagged by serving at home so you are not measuring anything in camp.
The 250°F bake matters more than it looks. Higher heat browns the sugar before the oats dry out, and granola that is not dry goes stale in a food bag within days. The oil and syrup coat the oats so clusters form on cooling, and the dried fruit goes in after baking because an hour in the oven turns raisins into gravel.
Packing
Portion into eight bags of about 3.5 oz each once it is fully cool. Warm granola sweats and goes soft in a sealed bag. It packs down and crumbles, so use a stiff-sided bag or accept granola dust at the bottom of the food sack.
Variations
- Swap the milk powder in and eat it as cereal on a cold morning.
- Drop the coconut and add a tablespoon of cinnamon if you want it less sweet.
- Bump the oil to 1/2 cup for a higher calorie density per ounce on long carries.
https://homeandkind.com/blogs/food-recipes/best-homemade-granola