Healthy cranberry orange pistachio granola is full of sweet cranberries and salty pistachios, with the perfect hint of orange. This crunchy granola is a perfect holiday breakfast.
Granola is one of my all-time favorite recipes to create and to eat. It’s so easy to toss together different ingredients to create a granola that’s both healthy and delicious.
I have a serious thing for crunchy granola, like this crunchy mango coconut granola, or this other pistachio blueberry granola. I’m the type of person who will hunt for the big chunks of granola in a bag. It’s always disappointing when you reach the end and it’s just the crumbs.
This healthy cranberry orange pistachio granola gets you all those big chunks you crave. No need to go hunting for them.
What I also love so much about making granola from scratch is that I can control the ingredients. Many times, we see granola as a healthy breakfast and/or snack. But marketing can be quite deceiving. Many granolas are packed with added sugars and ingredients that are really counteracting your health efforts.
Instead, when we make granola from scratch, we can be very particular about the ingredients that go into it. This particular granola has just 6 simple main ingredients that make it a good-for-you breakfast.
6 simple ingredients in healthy cranberry orange pistachio granola
Of course we have to start with the oats for our granola. Old fashioned oats are necessary because they’ll hold up well in the baking process. They’re also rich in fiber and antioxidants and help control blood sugar and LDL cholesterol. So we’re starting off on a great foot already!
Next up is dry quinoa, which has many of the same benefits of oats, with some additional good-for-you protein.
We can’t forget about the pistachios and dried cranberries. The dried cranberries were a bit of a hard spot of me, because they contain added sugar. And even if you’re looking at the reduced sugar version, there are so many additional ingredients, I just didn’t want to deal with. So, I still opted for plain dried cranberries, where the only two ingredients were cranberries and sugar.
The sticky stuff for healthy cranberry orange pistachio granola
There obviously needs to be something to hold all of our healthy goodness together with this granola.
Enter honey for sweetness, and coconut oil for the crispy factor. Honey is a natural sweetener and a good source of antioxidants.
So not only is our granola super healthy, but we’re getting a heavy dose of all the good stuff right away in the morning.
A little sweet kick in healthy cranberry orange pistachio granola
I couldn’t resist adding just a few white chocolate chips to our healthy cranberry orange pistachio granola! They may not necessarily be the healthiest chip off the ole block, but their sweetness is a perfect match for salty pistachios.
Right when the granola comes out of the oven, sprinkle the chips on top so they melt slightly into the granola.
After your granola has cooled completely, it’s time to break it into those deliciously large chunks. I had a whole lot of trouble not eating all of them before storing away in a Ziploc bag.
Use your granola to top fruit and yogurt {my favorite!}, or eat with milk as a cereal. It’s also totally acceptable to just eat by the handful!
This healthy cranberry orange pistachio granola would also make for a really great Christmas gift or hostess gift. Pour into large Ball jars and tie with a pretty Christmas ribbon for the perfect {and delicious} homemade gift!
Looking for more healthy breakfast ideas? Check these out:
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- ¼ cup uncooked quinoa
- ½ cup shelled pistachios roughly chopped
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ⅓ cup honey
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil
- 1 tsp. orange extract
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ¼ cup white chocolate chips
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Preheat oven to 300°F and grease a large baking sheet with baking spray.
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In a large bowl, stir together the oats, quinoa, pistachios and cranberries.
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In a small bowl, stir together the honey, coconut oil, extract and salt.
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Pour the wet mixture over the dry and stir until oats are coated.
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Spread the mixture in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 24 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.*
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Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the white chocolate chips on top. Let cool before breaking into large pieces.
*Note: If you have a dark pan, reduce the baking time by 4-6 minutes. Continue to rotate the pan halfway through cooking
