Baklava Granola

The best, granola you’ll ever make with reminiscent flavors and textures of the classic Baklava pastry. Traditional nutty pistachios and walnuts are mixed with oats and puffed rice crips for that classic layered filo dough crisp, butter, and lots of honey for the sweet gooey granola goodness with all the characteristics of baklava. This chunky granola is equally healthy as it is indulgent, perfect for topping on your yogurt bowls, with milk, or enjoyed by itself!

Finding the perfect granola isn’t easy – whether it’s far too overpriced, loaded with so many forms of sugar, too many ingredients to even want to spend the time reading, or just not your preferred texture – means making your own granola at home solves all those problems! As a HUGE texture girl this granola fits all my wants, it has amazing big clusters, along with a chewy bite from the honey, crispness from the puffed rice, and a bit of crunchiness from the nuts.    

This granola is inspired by one of the best pastries of all time – baklava but the flavors and some of the ingredients can be easily changed to make it your preferred customized version! Let me be very clear however that this is by no means a substitute for Baklava and you should NEVER feel guilty for enjoying such a beautiful masterpiece however it’s delicious creation on its own that makes breakfast or snacking so very enjoyable. 

The lovely thing about this granola is the EASE with which it comes together! Minus the fact I think you should make the homemade nut flour, it comes together in one bowl and is baked on a sheet tray in a short 20 minutes, no stirring necessary just patience that it cools completely before breaking apart and devouring. 

Ingredients & Variations

To recreate the fabulous baklava pastry into a quick and easy everyday health-“ish” treat I included many of the original ingredients such as nuts, butter, honey, and the ranging aromatics used in the different recipes such as orange, lemon, rose or orange blossom water and spices. The additional ingredients to create a granola version was of course the oats as well as the puffed rice crisps for texture.

• Walnuts & Pistachios– I recommend these both be unsalted but roasted. Roasted helps with the more robust flavor and the unsalted helps you control the salt level in the recipe as well as avoid any unwanted plant oils added on to the nuts. A substitute for the homemade pistachio and walnut flour could easily be store-bought almond meal/flour or oat flour for a nut-free choice. If you like you could substitute the pistachios and or walnuts with almost any other nut such as almonds, hazelnuts, cashews, or pecans. On top of flavor, the nuts also add crunch, protein, and healthy fats to the granola

• Oats – Rolled oats are best here due to their large flakes and preferred texture as opposed to steel cut or quick which are both just too small and wouldn’t deliver the same consistency to the recipe. The oats also add more nutrient-dense substances to the recipe such as fiber, protein, potassium, iron and much more.

• Puffed Rice Crisps Cereal – I suggest (believe it or not) the kind that IS coated in sugar because it creates a more light and airy tiny rice puff as opposed to the ones that aren’t bigger and have much less crispiness to them but in the end either will work – just a texture difference! 

• Honey – This ingredient is one of the most characteristic flavors of baklava due to it being soaked in a honey simple syrup but if you don’t wish to use honey then maple or agave syrup would be great substitutes. 

• Butter – Also another very important ingredient to baklava as it’s layered in-between each layer of filo dough but if you prefer coconut oil, avocado oil, or olive oil in place of the butter it could be a fine substitute.

• Aromatics – there have to be at least 20 if not more variations of baklava so have fun and take your own spin on mix-ins and flavor boosts such as – 1/3 cup chocolate (chips/chocolate), lemon or orange zest, orange blossom or rose water, cinnamon, cardamom, or whatever you feel like the granola may need. 

Homemade Granola Tips

• Homemade Pistachio & Walnut Flour – This helps to develop those wonderful clusters after baking the granola. The nut flour helps to make the granola an almost batter-like consistency to help the clumps stay together after breaking but if you don’t want to make your own in the blender or food processor then an easy substitute as mentioned above would be almond or oat flour

• Large Clumpy Clusters – Another hack to achieving what I believe is the best part of this granola recipe – the beautiful chewy clusters – is to pack the granola dough into an even layer on a parchment lined (very important as it can stick easily with all the honey) 9×13 baking tray and NEVER stir. As if you were to make one massive granola bar and wait until it’s FULLY cooled (even better to stick it in the fridge or freezer to chill for about 30 minutes) before breaking apart into the delicious clusters 

• Storing the Granola- you definitely want to store the granola in an airtight container or baggie as the rice crisps do tend to get much softer after 3-4 days, still absolutely delicious just with less of the crunchy texture. 

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