When you hear the word granola, perhaps your mind casts itself back to the 1960s, when the baked combination of rolled oats, nuts and honey were associated with the hippie culture of the day. Truth be told, granola goes back a century before that, when a prominent spa in Dansville, New York, invented it as a healthy snack. Then called “granula,” it was made from Graham flour and looked similar to Grape-Nuts – hence the unusual name. Flash forward to today when granola is constantly evolving to fit the needs of diet-conscious consumers. If you’re looking for a guilt-free breakfast or snack, here are four granola clusters we recommend.
Crunchy clusters
These healthy treats from KIND come in three flavors – almond butter, dark chocolate and peanut butter whole grain. We’re partial to the almond butter, which gets a kiss of cinnamon that makes it work either as a snack or breakfast cereal. It has 10 grams of protein per serving and is kosher.
An addictive snack
We’ve been fans of HighKey’s low-carb snacks for a while now – keep those snickerdoodle cookies away because we’ll vacuum them right up. So expectations were high for their granola snacks. HighKey doesn’t disappoint. Made with pumpkin, chia, flax and sunflower seeds, the crunchy and addictive clusters get a nice kick from natural sweeteners. The resealable bag means we can get a stash of these treats at the office for that 3 p.m. snack break. Also available in a mouth-watering maple pecan flavor.
Healthy preparation
Are you looking for a granola snack with no artificial sweeteners, no GMOS, no soy and no gluten? No problem. With a name like Diabetic Kitchen, it’s obvious the emphasis is on healthy preparation with real ingredients. Each serving also has 20 percent of the recommended daily allowance of fiber, so munch without guilt.
Minimal guilt
I suppose carb-free granola is something we’ll have to wait a little longer to enjoy. In the meantime, Low Karb (yes, with a K) is wowing us with this 2-gram variety. Like many of the snacks on our list, it can be enjoyed hot or cold – with or without milk (we suggest almond milk). Ingredients include almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, pecans and coconut chips.
