Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Making your own granola is economical, easy to do, and it tastes so much better than store-bought! Try all the fun variations in this easy granola recipe and you’ll never be bored.
How long it takes: 10 minutes to prep, 35 minutes in the oven
Equipment you’ll need: mixing bowl, sheet pan, oven
Servings: makes 5 cups (10 servings)
Homemade Granola
Have you been looking for a good basic granola recipe? One that you can tweak or jazz up to your heart’s content? Look no further! This recipe has become my go-to and I think it will be yours too.
Lightly sweetened with brown sugar and honey, rolled oats are joined by nuts, coconut, and other goodies. The granola is crunchy yet a little chewy, flavorful and full of warm cinnamon, just the way it should be.
About This Granola Recipe
Very easy to make. You really won’t believe how easy it is to make homemade granola. You just need a big bowl, few minutes of prep, and then it’s mostly hands-off time in the oven.
Nutritious. This healthy granola will get your day started on the right foot. Add granola to unsweetened Greek yogurt with fresh fruit and you have a powerful breakfast that will stick with you for hours. Instead of eating over-priced and over-processed breakfast cereal, simply splash a little milk over granola in a bowl. Rice Krispies or Cheerios can’t hold a candle to your homemade “cereal”!
Easy to customize. You really don’t need another recipe to make your own special granola. Keep reading for lots of ideas for how you can tweak this classic granola recipe. Throw in the stuff you like. Leave out the stuff you don’t. Rolled oats are essential but the rest is pretty much up to you!
Recipe Tip
Although I say you can tweak this recipe as much as you want, there is one caveat. Try to keep the same ratio of wet vs. dry ingredients for the best results.
Ingredient Notes
- Rolled Oats: The foundation of granola, rolled oats are a must. They are sometimes called “old-fashioned” oats. Please don’t substitute other types of oats, such as steel-cut, quick oats, or instant oats. They just don’t work for granola. Rolled oats are pretty much the only ingredient you can’t change in this recipe (although you can change how many oats you use).
- Almonds and Pecans: A half cup of each gives plenty of toasted nut flavor. However, if you’re like my family which is now nut-free due to severe allergies, there are lots of things you can substitute for nuts.
- Coconut: The recipe calls for shredded unsweetened coconut. Coconut flakes are great, too. Can’t find unsweetened? Sweetened coconut will work but it adds a bit more sugar.
- Ground Flaxseed: Ground flaxseed is better than whole seeds because it’s more easily digested. Go ahead and add a bit more flaxseed if you like (or leave it out if you prefer).
- Honey: The goal is to add just a bit of flavor but not a lot of sugar. Most store-bought granolas are loaded with sugar! That’s another advantage of making your own. If you want, use even less than the recipe calls for. You can also substitute brown sugar.
- Canola Oil: Because canola oil is a mild tasting and widely available oil, it’s perfect for granola. Not a fan of canola? Use any mild flavored oil, such as coconut, mild olive oil, grape seed, or vegetable oil.
- Cinnamon, Pure Vanilla Extract, and a Pinch of Salt: More flavor for the granola.
How To Make This Granola Recipe
Mix dry ingredients. Combine oats, nuts, coconut, flaxseed, and brown sugar in a large bowl.
Combine wet ingredients. Warm up oil, honey, cinnamon, and vanilla in the microwave and stir to combine.
Mix it all together. Add the oil mixture to the dry ingredients in the bowl and stir well to coat.
Arrange in pan. Spread the granola in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet (don’t crowd the pan!). Use two smaller pans if that’s what you have.
Bake. Put the pan of granola into a preheated oven to bake until golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and carefully stir the granola a couple of times while it’s baking so that it browns evenly.
Store. Completely cool the granola and store it in an airtight container. That’s about all there is to it!
Chunky or Not?
If you like your granola in big clumps or clusters, use your spatula to press all the granola down onto the pan and let cool it completely without touching it. If you like smaller pieces, stir it a few times while it cools.Helpful Tips
Add enough dry ingredients to balance the wet. If your granola always seems soft and chewy, not crisp and crunchy, try adding more oats or other dry ingredients to your recipe next time.
Don’t crowd the granola. Granola needs lots of room on the pan to dry out, toast, and crisp up. Use two pans if necessary and rotate them in the oven once or twice.
Bake it long enough. If your baking time is too short, the granola may be soft and chewy. If the granola isn’t crispy and browned when you take it out of the oven, it probably isn’t done baking yet. Bake it until it’s dry to the touch and nicely browned.
Store it correctly. Always make sure the granola is completely cool before storing it in an airtight container. It will stay perfectly crispy. If you store it while it’s still warm, the granola will produce steam in the container, causing it to become soft.
Serving Ideas
Granola can be much more than a topping for yogurt. I like to top a smoothie bowl with granola (try a cherry smoothie or a mango smoothie for the base). Granola is good with milk as a breakfast cereal. Jazz up a plain bowl of oatmeal or chia seed pudding with a granola topping. For an easy fruit crisp, top canned fruit or pie filling with granola and warm in the microwave. It’s really great on this apple compote. Granola is yummy on ice cream or vanilla pudding, too. Top a salad with granola, especially a salad with fruit. Add it to your peanut butter sandwich for a really crunchy sandwich.
Granola Recipe Variations
- Change up the nuts or use seeds. Try walnuts instead of almonds and pecans. Sliced or slivered almonds are great, too. Swap in sunflower seeds for the nuts. Sunnies are so good in granola and make this recipe nut-free. Chia seeds, pepitas (pumpkin seeds), or sesame seeds are good choices. You can make your granola without nuts or seeds, too.
- Double the coconut. Coconut flakes are a good alternative to shredded coconut.
- Add more fiber. Substitute oat or wheat bran for the flaxseed.
- Change the sweetener. If you don’t have honey or want to make this vegan, try using maple syrup. You can substitute brown sugar, too.
- Not a fan of canola oil? Use a different type of oil such as coconut oil (melted), light olive oil, or vegetable oil.
- Add some fun spices! I love nutmeg, cloves, cardamom. Pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice is great, too. If you want, don’t add any spices at all.
- Stir in dried fruit or chocolate chips. After the granola has baked and cooled, add dried fruit such as raisins, cranberries, dried cherries, or apricots. Chocolate chips are always a good idea, too.
- Try my savory granola. It’s nut-free! Add it to salads or soups instead of croutons.
More Ways To Eat Your Oats
If you prefer to eat oats in another form, try: Instant Pot steel cut oats, baked oatmeal, slow cooker steel cut oats, or pan-seared oatmeal.
And of course, there’s always oatmeal cookies: iced oatmeal cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, or coconut oatmeal cookies.
Granola is a perfect make-ahead breakfast. It keeps well in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to a month. You can freeze it for up to six months! Make a big batch of granola, maybe even a double batch, and you’ll have breakfast for a week or more (or lots of good snacking).
While not technically a leftover, I just wanted to say that granola is perfect in a yogurt parfait. I bet it’s even great on ice cream. Not that I know. Okay, I do know. (P.S. With chocolate chips. Just sayin’!)
Best Granola Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups rolled oats (old fashioned, rolled, or extra thick rolled)
- ½ cup raw almonds, chopped
- ½ cup raw pecans, chopped
- ½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds, optional
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup honey (or substitute½ cup packed brown sugar, or a combination of brown sugar and honey)
- 3 tablespoons canola oil or coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F. Spray a large rimmed baking sheet (11 by 17 inches) with nonstick cooking spray, or line with parchment or Silpat.
- In a large bowl, stir together oats, almonds, pecans, coconut, chia seeds, flaxseed, cinnamon and salt.3 cups rolled oats, ½ cup raw almonds, chopped, ½ cup raw pecans, chopped, ½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut, 2 tablespoons chia seeds, optional, 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon salt
- In a separate small microwavable bowl or large glass measuring cup, stir together honey or brown sugar, canola oil, and vanilla. Heat in microwave for 45 seconds on 50% power. Stir well.½ cup honey, 3 tablespoons canola oil or coconut oil, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and thoroughly stir until everything is well coated.
- Spread granola in an even layer on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, stir, and then bake for 15 minutes, stir, and bake 5 to 10 minutes more or until golden brown and dry (no longer sticky).
- Let cool completely, stirring occasionally to break up chunks if desired.
Notes
- Variations: This recipe is so flexible. For ideas, see the suggestions listed in the post. Making changes will change the yield as well as the nutritional information.
- Storage: After granola has cooled completely, store in an airtight container (that holds 5 cups) for up to a month. Granola can be frozen in a freezer-safe container for up to six months.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
I believe this would be a great, healthy snack to have on our hikes. Thanks for sharing it!
You’re welcome!