Homemade Granola Recipe

The best Homemade Granola Recipe! Loaded with oats, nuts, maple syrup, and brown sugar, you’ll love every sweet and crunchy bite! This is it. The only granola recipe you’ll ever need. Easily adaptable, incredibly delicious, and ready to brighten your mornings. Serve it with milk, sprinkle it over yogurt, or eat it by the fistful straight off the warm baking sheet. You won’t be able to stop. This stuff is addicting, in the best way possible.

It’s easy to get excited about breakfast when it’s something over the top like a Cinnamon Roll Cake or Apple Dumplings, but I’m telling you, this granola is something to get excited about, too. It is worlds better than store bought granola, and it can be made with all your favorite ingredients.

Granola Recipe

Homemade Granola is made by combining dry ingredients with a mixture of wet ingredients, then baking until crisp and golden. This recipe is super adaptable. See below for options and suggestions to create YOUR perfect granola.

• Oats: The base of granola is old fashioned rolled oats. Do not use quick/instant oats or steel cut oats here. Regular rolled oats create the perfect texture and bake up beautifully.
• Nuts: I use 2 cups of mixed nuts in this recipe. I usually throw in whatever I have on hand. My favorites include a combination of walnuts, pecans and sliced almonds. Chop the larger nuts into bite-sized pieces.
• Seeds: Pepitas add a nutty flavor and boost the nutrition. Feel free to swap for sunflower seeds or leave out the seeds completely.
• Coconut: Thick-cut unsweetened coconut chips give a buttery-coconut flavor to every bite. The coconut chips crisp up and create a texture that makes the granola addicting. If you aren’t a fan of coconut, feel free to leave this out.
• Maple Syrup and Brown Sugar: This combination makes for the best tasting granola. It’s sweet (but not overly sweet), with a deep, caramelized flavor from the combo of pure maple syrup and brown sugar.
• Oil: I prefer extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil for this granola. It helps the oats bake up golden and crisp, and adds a bit of richness that can’t be beat.
• Flavoring: I flavor this granola with pure vanilla extract. You can also add cinnamon, pie spice, nutmeg, cardamom, or any other spice of your choice.
• Dried Fruit (optional): After the granola has baked, stir in your favorite dried fruit. Dried cherries, dried cranberries, raisins, or dried apricots are my favorites.

Tips For Making The Best Homemade Granola:

1. Use your hands to mix the granola. After adding the wet ingredients to the dry, stir it a few times with a spoon, then get in there with your hands and really work the wet ingredients into the oats. This ensures that the flavors of maple, vanilla and brown sugar get all the way into the oats.
2. After mixing up the granola, press it into a flat, even layer on your baking sheet (I press it down with the back of a spatula). Let it bake undisturbed for the first 25 minutes. This allows some clumps to form as the granola begins to bake and brown. After that, toss it every 5-10 minutes, until you reach your desired level of doneness. If you want it extra crisp, bake a little longer.

Play around with this recipe to create a flavorful granola that your family will love. I recommend keeping somewhat close to the portions of dry ingredients to wet ingredients, but granola is quite fool-proof, so you shouldn’t have any trouble making a few adaptations. I’d love to hear your favorite flavor varieties!

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Homemade Granola Recipe

This Granola Recipe is the perfect way to start your day. Loaded with oats, nuts, maple syrup, and brown sugar, you'll love every sweet and crunchy bite!

5 from 2 votes

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Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Servings: 18 servings (1/3 cup)

Calories: 261kcal

Author: Allison - Celebrating Sweets

Ingredients

• 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 2 cups chopped nuts*2 cups chopped nuts*
• ⅓ cup pepitas or sunflower seeds, optional⅓ cup pepitas or sunflower seeds, optional
• ¾ cup unsweetened coconut chips, optional, but highly recommended ¾ cup unsweetened coconut chips, optional, but highly recommended
• ½ teaspoon salt½ teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup pure maple syrup⅓ cup pure maple syrup
• ⅓ cup oil, I use extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil⅓ cup oil, I use extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
• ½ cup light brown sugar½ cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup dried fruit, optional1 cup dried fruit, optional

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 300°Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
• In a large bowl, combine oats, nuts, seeds, coconut and salt.
• In a separate bowl, whisk syrup, oil, brown sugar and vanilla until smooth. Pour the wet mixture over the oats and stir until mostly combined. Use your hands to continue mixing, making sure that the oats and nuts are well coated.
• Dump the mixture onto prepared baking sheet and spread into an even layer (I like to flatten it with the back of a spatula). Bake for 25 minutes, then use a spatula to mix around the granola. Return to the oven for 10 minutes, toss again, then return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes until evenly golden brown. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool (see note about finishing salt). Add dried fruit after cooling, if desired.

Notes

*Use any combination of nuts. My preference is a combination of walnuts, pecans and sliced almonds. If your nuts are salted you can reduce the amount of salt in the recipe (to taste). If your nuts are unsalted, use the full amount listed. 

Finishing salt: I like to add a sprinkle of finishing salt (like Maldon Flaky Sea Salt) after removing the granola from the oven. This adds a stronger salty-sweet balance, and a bit of texture from the occasional flake of salt. This is completely optional, and delicious with or without it. If you have a finishing salt on hand, give it a try.

Nutrition

Calories: 261kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 71mg | Potassium: 212mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 1.5mg

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This recipe originally appeared on Real Housemoms where I am a contributor.