Five More Fantastic Granolas

Choosing a granola is becoming a time-consuming project with the selections growing daily. Along with Early Bird Foods, Purely Elizabeth, Bola, Our Daily Eats, and Granola Lab, all of whom make fabulous granola, there are five more fantastic granolas worth trying. Each is made with an eye on nutrition, texture, and taste with no artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners, or preservatives.  What they all have in common is deliciousness. Oats, nuts, seeds, fruit…..the combinations are endless.

Baked Shop of Brooklyn, New York is the creator of four blends of Baked Granola: Original (chock full of nuts), Mountain Blend  (loaded with sulfite-free dried fruits), Chocolate Blend (with dark chocolate chips, banana and coconut chips), and the new Vegan Valley Blend (with almonds, hemp, and flax seeds).

Baked Granola is big as in bold, crunchy, and chewy – a cornucopia of textures and flavors all in one bag. Available nationwide, Baked Granola can also be purchased on-line at the company website: www.bakednyc.com. Each 14 ounce bag is $6.50.

The Well Dressed Food Company’s Adirondack Crunchy Granola is made in Tupper Lake, New York, a small town in the Adirondacks.  With only 7 ingredients (oats, pecans, almonds, coconut, dried cranberries, canola oil, and honey), Adirondack Crunchy Granola is a hearty, delicious, and traditional granola that sells for $6.50 per 12 ounce bag through the company website:  www.welldressedfood.com. The company also makes two other varieties: Maple-Walnut and Apple Crumble Granola.

Freddy Guys Hazelnuts may be known for their Oregon grown hazelnuts but their house-made granola is also something special. Chock full of toasted hazelnuts blended with brown sugar and honey to provide that Pacific northwest praline flavor Portlandians expect, Freddy Guys Hazelnut Granola is also notable for being made with wheat germ oil. One 16-ounce bag is $8, two 16-ounce bags are $15, plus shipping. The minimum order is $25 through the company website: www.freddyguys.com.

Buckwheat groats and flax seeds form the basis of Go Raw Granola – an unusual and nutritious organic granola with no added oils or sweeteners. With four varieties to choose from (Simple, Original, Live Chocolate, and Apple Cinnamon), Go Raw is an expensive granola (about $12 per 16-ounce bag or 6 bags for $54 through the company website:  www.goraw.com) but worth it.

Gluten-free, wheat-free, and nut-free, these granolas offer an alternative to those who can’t tolerate wheat or nuts. The granola can also be purchased nationwide at grocery, health, and gourmet markets.

Flax Granola by Columbia County Bread and Granola wins the prize for the most unique and forward thinking granola on the market. If you love flax seeds and are super picky about what you want in your granola, this is the one for you. With a base of flax seeds (in lieu of oats), the granola has no added sugars (2 -4 grams of natural occurring sugar per serving) and relies on cinnamon and spices for added flavor. The flax seeds are whole (primarily in clusters) so chewing the seeds is essential to release the abundance of Omega 3 fatty acids.

Rich with a nutty flavor, the Flax Granola comes in six varieties: Fruit and Berry, Pumpkin Spice, Cranberry Walnut, Apple Cinnamon, Red White and Blueberry (cranberries, almond, blueberries), and Private Stock in which you select the nuts, fruits, and seeds to add to the flax seed based granola.  Each 12 ounce packet is $8 and the 42-ounce packet sells for $35. The 42 ounce Private Stock is $22 plus $1.25 – $3.00 for each (most are $1.50) nut, fruit, and seed addition. To order, go to the company website: www.columbiacountybread.com.