Back with more homemade granola! Having a batch of it on hand, no matter what flavour, is the bestest idea. For the most part, I snack on granola as is, but sometimes I’ll add it to yoghurt and that’s when I thought of turning this particular granola into a simple parfait.

This granola has fresh dates and lots of toasty almonds. It’s AMAZING by itself, but when you layer it up with fresh bananas, fresh cherries and some thick yoghurt, it’s even more unbelievable. The perfect breakfast, I kid you not, or a snack when you’re ravenous and can’t be bothered with a meal, or waiting till a meal.

Naturally sweetened, GF and vegan if you use a non-dairy yoghurt, full of the good stuff, so that you can balance it out with these.

This granola is based off my usual recipe with a few changes to incorporate dates. I blitzed them into a chunky paste and omitted most of the honey so that it wouldn’t all become too sweet. I also added some ground almonds, in addition to the chopped ones, but this is optional. It’s crunchy, toasty, and so flavourful for so few ingredients. Granola is overall really flexible, as long as you have enough wet ingredients to coat the dry. So clean out your fridge and throw in whatever you can!

There are some more chopped dates stirred in right at the end, before layering the granola with yoghurt and whatever fresh fruit you may like. Since cherries are in season now, I just had to use them. The crunchy granola goes so well with the softer fruit and creamy yoghurt. I typically don’t add any further sweetener, but feel free if you’d like to. No rules!

While the granola keeps for weeks at room temperature, the parfaits are best made and eaten fresh because the oats in the granola will soak up too much moisture and go soft if left too long. But once your granola is ready, it’s basically on-demand parfaits all day! I hope you’ll make these soon 🙂

Yoghurt Parfaits with Date & Almond Granola

Crunchy vegan, gluten-free date and almond granola with yoghurt, bananas and cherries

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 30

Total Time: 45

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients

For the granola
2 cups rolled oats not instant oats
1/4 cup ground almonds optional
1/4 cup whole almonds chopped into pieces
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1/3 cup pitted dates chopped (pack the pitted dates tightly into the cup while measuring, then chop)
2 tbsps hot water
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsps honey
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Extra chopped dates optional
To assemble the parfaits
Plain yoghurt as needed (I use about 1/2 cup per serving)
Fresh fruit of your choice: I used sliced bananas and sliced cherries

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 175 C and line a baking tray with a silicone baking mat (or lightly grease the tray or use non-stick baking paper, but I prefer the mat).
In a mixing bowl, combine the oats, ground almonds, chopped almonds, salt and cinnamon. Stir well and sit aside.
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a sharp blade, combine the chopped dates, hot water, oil, honey and vanilla. Blitz till you have a thick paste.
Add this paste to the mixing bowl and stir thoroughly, making sure all the oats are moistened.
Spread the mixture out into an even layer onto the prepared tray. Pack it down tightly to encourage granola clumps to form, but also make sure it's not too thick a layer, or else the oats won't brown.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the tray as needed to ensure even browning. Halfway through the baking time, gently stir the granola around so that it cooks evenly.
Once it's out of the oven, press down on the granola with a spatula, then let it cool completely to room temperature. Stir in the additional chopped dates, then transfer to an airtight tin and store at room temperature for about a week, or in the fridge for a month, or more, but mine is polished off long before that!
To make the parfaits, assemble just before you plan to eat them. Layer the yoghurt, fresh fruit and granola in a glass or jar and you're done! (The proportions here really depend on how much of each layer you like, there are no rules, which is why I haven't specified measurements. You'll have a lot of granola, so you'll be able to make a lot of parfaits too!)
Once assembled, the parfaits can be kept in the fridge for a day, but the granola will soften quite a bit. Happy parfait-ing!

Shop this recipe!

Check out a full list of my baking essentials here!

This post contains affiliate links.