Vegan yogurt with granola and toasted coconut is an easy homemade gluten-free healthy breakfast or snack idea. And if you’re one of those folks who have found the joy of meal planning, at the end of this recipe, there are a dozen more healthy dishes, many of which you can make-ahead! Our intentions with this post is to provide you with plenty of ideas to equip you with everything you need to enjoy a gluten-free breakfast or snack.

The recipes we’ve gathered for you are designed to help make your morning routines healthier with an easy homemade breakfast! Healthy breakfast or snack ideas are the best way to begin your day with real food to fuel your body most efficiently.

By the way, you may think it’s unusual to mention meal planning in a recipe post about granola and yogurt. After all, what does meal planning have to do with helping you have what you need to enjoy a gluten-free breakfast or snack?

The reason for mentioning the method of meal prep is because this particular healthy breakfast or snack idea naturally lends itself to that subject. The ability to make this ahead is one of the reasons you’re sure to love this gluten-free breakfast or snack.  

The easy homemade granola in this recipe can be made ahead and enjoyed as breakfast or a snack all week. It’s ridiculously simple to make and tastes so much better than store-bought granola.

Sometimes when I’m chowing down on this easy granola, I’m honestly at a loss as to why I didn’t start making granola sooner!

The familiar adage, live, and learn comes to mind.

Nothing Starts Your Day Better than an Easy Homemade Breakfast!

I know, I know. Some of you are reading this and thinking that all you really want for breakfast is that cup of coffee. (I hear you.) I’m toast without my morning cup or two. And, while I’m not making any promises, from what I understand, a cup or two of coffee has its benefits.  

But here’s the thing, your body needs more than a couple of cups of coffee to do all of the beautiful things you want it to do each day.

And here’s something else to consider, we burn through our morning calories more efficiently, readily turning them into energizing fuel than we do the calories from foods we eat during the second and third parts of the day. No kidding.

Check out this video and hear what Dr, Greger from Nutrition Facts has to say on that subject. It’s amazing. But fair warning: this is not a short clip. This informative video is a full-on talk, so, maybe watch it when you have more than a sec to focus.

According to the professionals, our bodies may really and truly need a substantial meal at the beginning of our day to keep everything on the inside, running its best.

Why Do Meal Planning and Make Ahead Dishes Make Eating Healthy Easier?

When you make a quick batch of this homemade vegan yogurt with granola ahead, it’s ready when you are! That’s likely the most apparent benefit of meal planning – that things are ready to go whenever you’re ready to eat.  

But that’s not the only benefit of a make-ahead dish or menu. 

Many people plan meals with the intention of portion control in the desire for weight loss. But as you’ll see, convenience and portion sizes are just a tip of the iceberg when it comes to meal planning benefits.

5 Significant Benefits of Meal Planning That May Surprise You!

You may find that you eat better while spending less! 

The road to good intentions begin with a decision. And in this case, the choices to support that decision start with a list.  

Making a list of what you plan to eat in a week is the basis for your shopping list.

Then, you shop only for the items needed to make the meals you’ve planned. Bam – money is saved, right out of the gate! There’s no guessing or adding extra things to the cart when you have your all-mighty list in hand.

You may find that you waste far less!

Let me emphasize this by sharing that whenever I take the time to plan out meals and prepare dishes ahead or meal prep even portions of meals for the week, I end up using precious and costly fresh organic produce more efficiently. I’m not saying that there isn’t room for improvement in this department in my case, but when I plan, it’s basically like making extra money.

Unfortunately, it seems that the more you have, the easier it is to get a little careless with details like budgeting for meals. Allow me to share a short backstory.

When I had just graduated from college and had student loans to pay, I made shopping lists for planned menus without exception. Meal prep was practically my middle name. I even sold Tupperware as a side hustle just to line my cabinets with Modular Mates to keep ingredients as fresh as possible for as long as possible to save money.

Anyhow, I’m still here, and those burdensome debts are all paid. And yet, in recent years, I’ve often tossed wilted forgotten veggies when rummaging around in the fridge for ingredients. If I think about how many times I’ve done that during my lifetime, I shudder.

Let’s just say that I could cover a couple of lovely spa treatments with the slimy green onions and bitter yellow broccoli alone.

But thankfully, in part to currently doing most of my shopping online, I am once again very thoughtful about every item I purchase. If I’m springing for fresh organic broccoli, you can bet I’m making a pot of my Heavenly 30-Minute Cream of Broccoli Soup. And when I buy those lovely carrots with the pretty long stems that take your breath away with their fresh flavor? You can bet your bottom dollar those sweeties are going to good and timely use in my colorful recipe for Roasted Carrots, Quinoa and Cranberries.

My parents use to recite an old saying, “Waste not, want not.”  As usual, my folks were spot on!

You May Find That You Accomplish Your Wellness and Fitness Goals

Mindfulness may be the catchword of the decade, but it’s a fact that we are what we think we are when our actions support what we set our mind to accomplish.  

When you want to achieve individual fitness goals, such as weight loss or muscle gain or even things like improved clarity and digestion, planning what you intend to eat and meal prep thoughtfulness may make a world of difference in your success.

For those types of goals, you research to determine what it is that your body needs to eat to reach those goals, and you plan and shop accordingly. When you have wellness goals in mind and take the step of thinking about what you have to do to achieve those ambitions, half the battle is won. Seriously. 

Change doesn’t happen without the profound disruption of old habits with new mindful practices taking their place.

You May Find That The Health of Your Family Improves

When you take the time to think about what you intend to eat and shop accordingly, your choices improve almost effortlessly.

When I plan healthy breakfasts or snacks, the fact that I purchase a lot of bananas is no accident. I intentionally choose three or four whole bunches of bananas each week. I buy those bananas with the intention that each member of my family of four will have at least one or two bananas a day at their disposal.

Yes, that is a lot of bananas. 

And, yes, occasionally, we do have a few brown bananas left in our fruit bowl. But guess what? We’ve got big plans for those spotted nutrient-rich buddies! We love my daughter’s famous Chocolate Elvis Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie, and we eagerly use our brown bananas in those. 

To be ready to make a smoothie when we need it, we freeze bananas. The spotted bananas are super ripe and sweet so they’re ideal to drop into the Vitamix. We also love to add those super ripe bananas into bowls of oatmeal. And yes, our Chunky Monkey Muffins would be nothing without lovely spotted bananas.  

When healthy options are the only things around for snacking, you may see the health of your entire family improve!

You May Find That You Save Time

Most of us know that old saying, time is money. Well, time may very well be money, but more importantly, time is limited.  

We’ve all got 24 hours in a day, no matter when we go to bed or when we get up. So, f you’d like to skip that period where you are panicking about what to make for dinner tonight or breakfast tomorrow, make a menu and meal plan!

When you’ve prepared a list that says what’s for dinner on Monday, you mind makes room for other things.

One look at your list and you know that Meatless Monday means your having a delicious Buffalo Tempeh Bowl for dinner! What’s for dinner on Monday becomes one decision that’s off your plate, LOL – no pun intended! 

And preparing that fabulous Blue Cheese Buffalo Bowl using the extra quinoa you made on Saturday when you made those incredible Roasted Carrots mentioned earlier, well, you save precious time and energy.

I think you get the idea.

And again, I’m not a planning queen, but when I do, it feels so right.

It’s an empowering feeling knowing that you can make meals in minutes because you spent just a little time thinking about what to prep and plan before one single person has a chance to ask, that looming question so many of us dread, “So, what’s for dinner?”

Why are Gluten-Free Breakfasts and Snacks Becoming So Popular?

Now and then, I make a point of mentioning that a dish is gluten-free even though all of the recipes Mike and I share with you are, in fact, gluten-free.  

But the reason I make mention of it now and then in a recipe title or description is that frequently, certain foods are thought to be gluten-free already when they’re not.

For instance, many store-bought granolas are not gluten-free because of the types of oats that are used. In this recipe, we suggest using certified gluten-free oats if gluten is something of which you are avoiding.  

We avoid gluten because we believe it is something that is often needlessly added to packaged foods, much like added unnecessary oils.

We also avoid wheat gluten because the grain that is currently harvested in the USA is not the same wheat our Grandparents used to bake their loaves of bread. Wheat grown in the United States these days is sadly, often void of many nutrients. 

Most importantly, we avoid gluten because of the rapidly increasing numbers of folks who suffer due to an intolerance of it.  

When people begin developing chronic disease and illnesses linked to a particular ingredient, such as gluten in wheat, or dairy, for instance, we take notice.

Again, for the record, this is just a personal opinion.

And when increasing numbers of people get sick from eating certain foods, we should expect to see the marketplace adjusting to meet the increasing need. 

Ingredients Needed to Make Vegan Yogurt with Granola

Yay – this recipe for an easy homemade breakfast has a very short list of ingredients!

Truthfully, it’s super short list because the bulk of what you need to make this lovely homemade gluten-free breakfast or snack is listed on the recipe for the super-easy granola, which is linked both here as well as in the bowl recipe below.

• old fashioned rolled oats (gluten-free as needed or desired)
• one portion of our easy homemade granola
• plant-based milk of choice
• a dollop of plant-based yogurt
• raw pumpkin seeds
• coconut flakes, toasted if you like and highly recommended
• an optional drizzle of maple syrup or another unrefined sweetener of choice

So, that’s it! Those ingredients are all you need to make an easy homemade breakfast!

This is an excellent place to slip in and mention a word or two about coconut. (It’s SO good to know the nutritional benefits of ingredients.)

Flaked coconut is what we like to use, but it is just one form of dried, unsweetened coconut.

Coconut flakes are long, shaved, broad flakes that are much larger than shredded or grated coconut. A valuable source of manganese and other minerals, dried, unsweetened coconut is a healthy addition to your diet.

If you’d like to know more about this fabulous ingredient, this article lists out some of the nutritional benefits of dry, unsweetened coconut.

12 Healthy Breakfast or Snack Ideas You’re Sure to Enjoy!

Chocolate Crunch Cookies are everything you want a cookie to be without cashing in an entire day’s bankroll of calories. Low in fat and high in nutrients, these cookies make a tasty, guilt-free, healthy breakfast or snack idea!

Tahini Mango Granola Bars are the no-brainer answer for an easy-breezy healthy snack or a ready when you ‘grab and go’ your breakfast. These delicious bars make a perfect, make and take, gluten-free breakfast or snack.

Loaded with healthy seeds, fruit, and savory tahini, these gluten-free breakfast or snack bars are the perfect make-ahead solution to fuel your day. I used mango as the fruit add-in, and I highly recommend that you try it!

Best Ever Vegan & Gluten-Free Waffles may sound a bit, well, braggy, but hey, when you’ve got it, you’ve got it! We’re sure you’ll agree to its name once you make a batch of these whole food plant-based oil-free beauties! Crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, this is a vegan waffle recipe you’ll want to keep in the family forever, hence the name, best!

Pumpkin Power Breakfast Worthy Cookies are healthy enough to call and easy homemade breakfast or dessert without creating an ounce of guilt!

Vegan and Gluten-Free Apple Crisp is another one of our delicious snacks or desserts that’s healthy enough to enjoy for breakfast!

Do you want to know how so many of our desserts are healthy enough to call breakfast? It’s because we use healthy ingredients that are sweetened only with unrefined sweeteners. We also use no refined oils, which makes a huge difference in the nutritional count!

Mango Basil Rice Breakfast Bowl, Snack or Dessert is a surprising dish that my family and I love! We pack and take this along on those rare and precious morning walks on the beach.

The first time you experience the fun of this sweetened rice dish is sure to make a lasting impression. The fabulous ribbons of basil make all of the difference here. That’s right; there’s lovely basil in this delicately sweet bowl of rice!

Chocolate Elvis Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie makes me smile whenever I think about it. My daughter drinks this smoothie every single day. A chocolate nut before she was even born, Sydney is the creator of this smoothie combo.

It’s an unusually cool recipe because it adjusts to preferences without a fuss.

On some days, Syd adds another date to her gluten-free breakfast or snack smoothie. Other times she uses a little more or less natural peanut butter. But all in all, every day, she sips this wonderfully wholesome smoothie. So now you know the story behind this bloggers’ smile.

Coconut Ambrosia Fruit Salad is a tribute to a childhood favorite. My Mom elevated this comforting classic in a way that’s worth repeating. The changes I made to make this mid-century recipe were few. And I’ve got to say, I enjoyed every last bite of the test batches.

Naturally sweet fruit, crunchy nuts, loads of wonderfully chewy coconut, and a few fluffy vegan marshmallows pave the way to our reinvented ambrosia; it’s one of my new favorite old dishes. I love how this no-cook gluten-free salad gives a warm and cozy nod to an iconic food of the past.

Best Ever Oatmeal Chia Banana Bread is a bread that’s perfect for enjoying with morning or afternoon coffee or tea. This recipe is date-sweetened, plant-based, dairy-free, vegan, oil-free, and gluten-free, without missing one crumb of flavor! It’s an easy homemade breakfast loaf that makes terrific use of those over-ripe bananas. And it’s super moist, flavorful, and jam-packed with ALL the best stuff. Once again, its name is earned.

Pumpkin Chia Overnight Oats is one of those easy homemade breakfast recipes that will make you wonder how the world ever managed before the invention of Pumpkin Lattes from Starbuck’s!

Make-ahead, no-cook, and gluten-free, these oats will turn your morning routine into a total breeze; we know you’ll want to repeat this recipe! Overnight oats make a perfect healthy breakfast or snack idea!

Vegan Fakin’ Bacon is the perfect finish to this list of easy homemade breakfast and snack-able options. Once you try this recipe, you will never crave regular bacon again. Now you have a way to meet and beat the craving with honor and respect to all life. (Hello, fellow animal lovers!)

Gluten-Free Cornbread Muffins are a nod to simple time and delicious flavors of days gone by. These muffins are ideal to enjoy with a smear of jam and a cold glass of Cardamom Milk.

Use mess free Vegan Fakin’ Bacon to top salads, sprinkle across soups, or snuggle into an FBLT sandwich! When you make that FBLT sandwich, be sure to use our Oil-Free Cashew Mayonnaise. Easy Fakin’ Bacon paired with our Cashew Mayo is combo that’s out of this world delicious!

We Hope to Hear that You’ve Enjoyed a Healthy Helping of Vegan Yogurt and Granola!

We like to express our gratitude to you for visiting our recipes. And we hope you get the chance to try this healthy breakfast or snack idea, soon! We’re thankful to be so passionate about creating something that you find valuable. And what’s more wonderful than having fresh ideas to start your day with an easy homemade breakfast?

That’s an important note to mention. The recipes and photos that we share with you are recipe and pictures that we create ourself.  

While there are sites that share recipes that others have created and photographed, that’s not what we do. We take the time to create, plan, prepare, write, and shoot all of our content.

So, when we say thank you, we mean it. From the bottom of our recipe writing, photo shooting, website creating, Pin making hearts, we’re thrilled that you’re here!

Thank you, again, for choosing to spend time with us.

Happy Eating!