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Sourdough granola served in a sage green bowl with yogurt, fresh berries, and a baking tray of granola in the background.

Sourdough Granola

This long-fermented sourdough granola is crisp, deeply toasted, and packed with rolled oats, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds. Sourdough discard ferments the oats before they’re baked low and slow for a crunchy homemade granola with plenty of texture.
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Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours
Fermentation Time: 1 day
Total Time: 1 day 3 hours 15 minutes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Servings: 16
Author: Shilpa

Equipment

Ingredients

For the fermentation

  • 3 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup unfed sourdough starter sourdough discard
  • ½ cup honey
  • ½ cup coconut oil melted

For soaking

  • 1½ cups raw pumpkin seeds
  • 1½ cups raw sunflower seeds

To finish

  • ¼ cup honey
  • ¼ cup coconut oil melted
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Ferment and soak

  • Place the pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds in a large bowl and cover them with water. Leave at room temperature for 24 hours, rinsing the seeds and refreshing the water once at about the 12 hour mark.
  • In a separate bowl, stir together the rolled oats, sourdough starter, ½ cup honey and ½ cup melted coconut oil until no dry oats remain. Cover and leave in a warm spot to ferment for up to 24 hours.

Bake

  • Preheat the oven to 210°F. Line two baking trays with parchment paper.
  • Drain the seeds and rinse them well with fresh water.
  • Break the fermented oat mixture into rough chunks. Add the soaked seeds, the remaining ¼ cup honey, ¼ cup melted coconut oil, the cinnamon, vanilla extract, and salt. Mix until the seeds are evenly distributed throughout.
  • Divide the mixture between the two lined trays and spread it into a thin, even layer.
  • Bake for 2 hours. Remove the trays and break the granola into pieces. It will still be very soft at this stage. Leave a few small chunks intact for clusters, and keep the pieces from getting too large.
  • Return the trays to the oven for 1 more hour. Check that the granola has dried completely. If it has not, continue baking and check every 15 to 20 minutes. Cool completely before storing.

Notes

  • Clusters versus flakes. How you break the granola at the 2-hour mark decides the final texture. Leave small chunks intact for clusters, or break it thoroughly with no lumps for a flakier granola. Nothing rejoins after this point.
  • The temperature matters more than the time. At anything above 210°F, the seeds scorch before the oats take on color. If your oven runs hot, drop the temperature and extend the bake time rather than the reverse.
  • Test for dryness; do not guess. Take out a small piece, let it cool for a minute, and bite it. Any give at all means there is still moisture in the batch, and moisture is what makes granola go soft in the jar.
  • Two trays on two racks. The top tray bakes faster. Rotate the trays halfway through the bake if you cannot fit both on one rack.
  • Storage. Airtight container at room temperature for 3 to 4 weeks, away from heat and direct sunlight. Always use a dry spoon. If it softens, re-crisp on a tray in a low oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Freezes for up to 6 months.
  • Add dried fruit off the heat. Raisins, cranberries, or chopped apricots go in while the granola is hot and out of the oven, never before baking.

Nutrition

Calories: 315kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.004g | Sodium: 149mg | Potassium: 196mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 9IU | Vitamin C: 0.4mg | Calcium: 27mg | Iron: 2mg
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