Orange Chia Granola

You’ll love the hint of orange zest in this Orange Chia Granola, loaded with healthy oats, chia seeds, and nuts!

What is your favorite meal of the day? Mine is most definitely breakfast. Maybe that’s partly due to the cup of coffee that I get to drink at breakfast time. But it’s also the breakfast foods. Waffles, pancakes, oatmeal, eggs, and toast… I love them all.

My favorite go-to easy everyday breakfast, though, is homemade granola. I love making (and eating) granola so much that last year I devoted a whole week to sharing granola recipes including peanut butter granola and mocha granola. I’ve written about the 5 reasons why you should make homemade granola in my tropical granola post.  Basically, I’m a granola addict.

I never get tired of dreaming up new granola flavors, and this Orange Chia Granola is my latest obsession. I’ve mentioned that we’ve been getting the most delicious, juicy oranges in our farm box. Well, I pretty much can’t eat one of those oranges without first zesting it to make a batch of this granola!

I mix the zest into a little bit of granulated sugar, which releases the flavor and oils from the zest and flavors the sugar. This method allows the orange flavor to be evenly distributed throughout the granola. When you mix the orange-sugar into the oat mixture, be sure to break up any clumps of orange with your spoon so that everything is well combined.

I make homemade granola just about every week, so that we’ll have it on hand for quick weekday breakfasts. I always make a double batch and even that disappears way too quickly! If you make a double batch of this Orange Chia Granola, you’ll probably need to spread the granola out on two pans instead of one. Be sure to rotate the pans halfway through baking so that it bakes evenly.

I love to eat this Orange Chia Granola in a bowl with some milk or as a crunchy topping for plain Greek yogurt. What is your favorite way to enjoy granola? Do you have a favorite granola flavor?

Orange Chia Granola

Servings: 10 (1/2 cup servings)

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 45 minutes mins

Total Time: 55 minutes mins

This Orange Chia Granola a satisfying quick breakfast or snack, and it's loaded with healthy oats, chia seeds, and nuts!

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Ingredients

• ▢ 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
• ▢ zest of 1 large orange
• ▢ 4 cups old-fashioned oats, 340g
• ▢ 1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped (or your favorite nut)*, 100g
• ▢ ¼ cup chia seeds, 40g
• ▢ 1 tsp. cinnamon
• ▢ ¼ tsp. salt
• ▢ ½ cup melted refined coconut oil**
• ▢ ½ cup pure maple syrup

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, use your fingertips to combine the granulated sugar and orange zest until fragrant. Add the oats, pecans, chia seeds, cinnamon, and salt. Stir until well combined.
• In a liquid measuring cup, stir together the melted coconut oil and maple syrup. Pour over the dry ingredients and stir until everything is well coated.
• Spread granola in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for about 45 minutes, stirring at 15 and 30 minutes and then not again. The granola is done when it is lightly golden and dry. Let the granola cool completely on the pan before transferring to an airtight container. The granola will crisp and cluster together slightly on the pan as it cools. I like to store my granola in the refrigerator.

Notes

*I like to use a combination of pecans and walnuts.
**If you use virgin (unrefined) coconut oil, your granola will have some coconut flavor. Refined coconut oil does not taste like coconut.

Serving: 1/2 cup, Calories: 356kcal, Carbohydrates: 37g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 21g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Sodium: 51mg, Potassium: 211mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 11g, Vitamin A: 5IU, Vitamin C: 0.1mg, Calcium: 73mg, Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is an estimate.

Cuisine: American

Course: Breakfast

Tried this recipe?Mention @kristines_kitchen on Instagram or tag #kristineskitchenblog.