Sweet, homemade date granola with speculaas is the perfect way to start a cold fall morning. Serve it with a bowl of yogurt and your favorite fruit, or use it as a topping for your favorite muffin.
Why you will love my date granola
- It has the perfect balance of soft, sweet dates and the crunchy oats and speculaas.
- Date granola is super easy to make, plus you can easily store it in a glass jar or take it with you as an on-the-go breakfast.
- This recipe is oil-free and has a vegan option!
Ingredients
Rolled oats: For this granola recipe, it is best to use rolled oats. They will hold their shape better and get a crunchy texture after baking them in the oven.
Speculaas: You can't make date granola with speculaas without speculaas. Break them into bite-sized pieces or use pepernoten for some extra crunch. Make sure you don't use biscoff cookies because that will significantly affect the flavor.
Dates: to balance out the spicy speculaas blend and crunchy oats, I like to add chopped dates. You can use any date you have, but I like to add medjool dates.
Speculaas spice mix: Speculaas spice mix is key in creating a rich speculaas flavor. You can find ready-made spice blends online, but I recommend making your own speculaas spice mix. This gives you more control over the flavor and is much cheaper!
Chocolate: Speculaas and dark chocolate are an amazing combination, but feel free to use your favorite kind. I always chop up a chocolate bar or chocolate lettering (another Dutch Sinterklaas treat), but you can use chocolate chips instead.
Honey: Instead of oil and sugar, we add honey to give the granola a sweet flavor and a nice crunch. I like to use local honey, but you can use any type you like.
Variations
Almond: To give your breakfast some extra crunch, you can add ¼ cup of chopped almonds to the mixture before placing it in the oven.
Vegan: If you want to make vegan date granola, you can replace the honey with maple syrup or a mixture of oil and sugar. If you're adding sugar, try dark brown sugar to give your granola a rich caramel flavor and a nice brown color.
How to make date granola
To make your date granola, you start by roasting the oats in the oven. Mix the oats, honey, and speculaas spice mix until the oats are completely coated, and spread them in an even layer on your lined baking tray. It is important to create an even layer so everything cooks at the same time.
Bake the oats until they are golden. This usually takes about 10 minutes. Let the oats cool completely before continuing with the recipe.
Transfer the oats to a bowl and add the chocolate, dates, and speculaas. Store it in an air-tight container to keep the oats from attracting moisture and becoming moldy.
How to serve date granola
I like to eat my granola with plain yogurt and fresh fruit, but it is also delicious with milk or coconut yogurt. I also use this granola as a topping for my speculaas muffins!
My tips for the best results
- Let the date granola cool completely before breaking it up into small pieces and transferring it to a glass jar. The granola stays soft until it has cooled.
- Make your own speculaas spice mix. This will improve the flavor of the granola.
- Add your favorite dried fruit and nuts to make your granola extra special.
Frequently asked questions
Absolutely! Both spice blends have a similar autumn flavor, so you can definitely replace the speculaas spices with pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spices.
You can make this recipe with other types of oats; however, steel-cut and quick oats absorb more moisture, so they will stay softer than rolled oats.
Dried apricots, cherries, cranberries, and raisins are a great addition to this recipe.
Storage
Your homemade date granola will stay fresh for about four weeks if you store it in an airtight container at room temperature. For a longer storage option, you can freeze it, although the oats may lose some crunch once thawed. Still delicious, but if you're looking for a crunchy breakfast, making small batches is the way to go.
More speculaas recipes to try next
Date Granola With Speculaas
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats
- ½ cup medjool dates chopped
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon speculaas spice mix
- 100 grams speculaas broken into small pieces
- ¼ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 F (180 C).
- Add the rolled oats, speculaas spice mix, and honey to a bowl and mix until the oats are completely covered.
- Spread the oat mixture onto a lined baking tray and bake your granola in the center of the oven until the oats are golden and crispy. This will take about 10 minutes.
- Take your baking tray out of the oven and let the oats cool completely before breaking them up and transferring them to a bowl.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, and once everything is mixed, transfer the date granola to an airtight container.
Notes
- Homemade date granola stays fresh for about three months.
- Use your favorite fall cookie!
- I love speculaas spice mix but you can also use pumpkin spice, cinnamon or apple pie spice mix for this recipe.
This is such a delicious granola. It goes perfectly with vanilla yogurt! :)
Yes! I love the comination with vanilla!