California Mix ¶

California, by non-residents, is often referred to as “the land of fruits, flakes, and nuts,” which is the general recipe for granola. Most of those ingredients are lower G. I. and diabetic friendly—just what the doctor ordered. So I named my granola recipe California Mix. Some ingredients normally put into commercial granola, like fruits and flakes, are not lower G. I., so these have been omitted for carb’s sake. I believe this recipe is so good that you may have to put it in a hard-to-open container or else hide it from those not on a low-carb regimen, if you want to have it on hand for those who do have dietary restrictions. The recipe uses broken-up pieces of nutmeats rather than chopped nuts, as these lend a more rustic appearance to the product. You can use the chopped varieties, if you wish—it will taste the same.

If you desire to add extra ingredients, such as fruits, seeds, grains, cereal flakes, and nuts, feel free to do so, ad libitum—just be aware of their carbohydrate and caloric content.

  • 2 cups sliced almonds
  • 2 cups broken-up walnuts
  • 2 cups broken-up pecans
  • 1 cup golden flaxseed meal
  • ½ cup vanilla whey protein powder
  • ¾ cup sucralose
  • ¼ cup <brown sugar>
  • ½ cup <butter>, melted
  • ¼ cup sugar-free maple syrup†
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 tbsp imitation maple extract

Combine all the dry ingredients in large mixing bowl.

In a separate container add the melted <butter>, maple syrup, maple extract, and water. Pour the liquid over the dry ingredients and mix well.

Line a sheet pan with non-stick aluminum foil, parchment paper, or a silicone cooking pad and spread the granola out evenly over it.

Bake at 275°F for 30 minutes. Then remove the pan from the oven, turn the oven down to 250°F., and break the granola up into large chunks. Return it to the oven and bake it for another 30 minutes.

Remove the pan again from the oven and let it cool enough that you can break up the chunks by hand into the final sizes you wish to have. Return the pan to oven one final time, bake another 30 minutes, turn off the heat, and let the granola cool in the oven.

When cool, store the granola in moisture-proof containers. Be sure to retain the smaller crumbs, as they are just as tasty as the rest.

Makes about 36 servings of ¼ cup each.