It's almost impossible to find a healthy granola from the shop in Estonia- majority of them have added ingredients like cane sugar, glycose-fructose syrup, cane molasses, palm oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, wheat, wheat flour, corn starch, syrup, emulsifiers, flavourings.
If you do pick granola from the shop, always check the ingredients list and nutritional value. I have written an article how to shop healthy at the grocery store and how to read product labels. It's important to read labels with packaged foods like granola, especially if you eat it on a frequent basis, as it can just mean that you are having a dessert for breakfast. That takes your body on a blood sugar rollercoaster ride from the morning. If you don't know why is blood sugar balance important for good health, read this article.
Below are some examples of the granolas sold in store in Estonia and their sugar content:
Kelloggs Crunchy Nut contains 19g of sugar per 100g, which is 4 tsp of sugar.
Nestle Fitness Granola Honey contains 17.9g of sugar per 100g, which is 4 tsp of sugar.
Sante Crunchy fruit contains 21g of sugar per 100g, which is 5 tsp of sugar.
Axa wholegrain granola with chocolate, almonds & cashews contains 21.2g of sugar per 100g, which is 4 tsp of sugar.
Lizi's granola with chocolate contains 15.5g of sugar per 100g, which is 3.8g of sugar
Granola ICA with dates and almonds contains 13g of sugar per 100g, which is 3.2 tsp of sugar.
As I can't find a good granola from the store, I am making my own. Below is a recipe, I tried from Liana-Werner Gray the other weekend and modified it a little. You can change up the nuts and dried fruit or add extra as you prefer.
Homemade granola recipe
Ingredients
1 cup of oats (I buy these gluten free oats)
1 1/2 cups of almond butter (you can also use sunflower seed butter, cashew butter)
1/2 cup of almond flour
2 tablespoons of honey
1/4 cup of chia seeds
1/4 cup of hemp seeds
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
1/2 cup of almond flakes
6 dates, pitted and chopped
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 cup of goji berries
1/2 cup of cocoa nibs
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of cardamon
Toppings
Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, crushed linseeds etc
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 160C (325F).
Mix all the ingredients thoroughly in the bowl till they stick together.
Put the mixture on the lined baking tray and bake for 15 minutes or until golden.
Enjoy with almond milk, coconut milk, yoghurt or with a milk of your choice.
I have also a muesli recipe in my blog if you are looking to make a non- crunchy version.