We love granola! But the store bought kind is expensive and who knows what they put in it. I experimented countless times to get the right recipe and finally got it! So, I’m sharing it with you! The best thing about this homemade granola is that it sticks together in chunks for easy (i.e. can’t get your hand out of the jar) snacking.
Homemade Granola Ingredients
This master recipe helps you customize your own homemade granola so you can put your favorite ingredients and flavors in.
Base:
4 Cups Old Fashioned Oats
1 Cup Unsweetened Coconut Chips (add more nuts and oats if you don’t want the coconut)
Spices:
1 Pinch of Salt
1 Tablespoon of your favorite spice like cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, or a mixture of cardamom, ginger, cinnamon and cloves for a gingerbread taste.
Nuts or Seeds:
1 Cup of raw sliced almonds, chopped pecans, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds or a fun combination.
Dried Fruit:
1/2 Cup of dried cranberries, raisins, chopped apricots, chopped cherries, ect.
Oil or Fat:
1/4 Cup Melted Butter, Canola Oil, or Coconut Oil
Sweetener:
1/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar, Maple Syrup, Honey, Agave, or Sweetener of your choice. I usually use a Brown Sugar and Honey combination. You could also try 2 tablespoons of peanut butter.
Flavoring:
1 1/2 Teaspoons of vanilla, almond, or your favorite extract.
Optional: Lemon or Orange Zest
How to Make Healthy Homemade Granola
This is a perfect recipe to cook with your kids because it’s not messy and it’s really easy. My little Emma has shown an interest in helping me cook lately so I recruited her to mix it up.
First, we preheated the oven to 300° and lined an edged pan with tin foil. Then we mixed together our base, spices, nuts, and dried fruit in a large bowl.
Emma put sliced almonds, cranberries, cinnamon, and nutmeg in ours. Sometimes we add a handful of mini chocolate chips after it has cooled completely.
In a separate bowl or measuring cup I combined the oil and sweetener until it resembled a liquid caramel. Our mixture includes melted butter, brown sugar, honey and vanilla.
Emma stirred in half of the sweetener mix with a wooden spoon until it was combined and then stirred in the remaining liquid. She mixed it really well until it was evenly distributed.
Gosh she’s cute 🙂
I spread out the granola evenly on the foil-lined pan and baked for about 30 minutes until it was lightly golden. If you want your granola to stick together in chunks, don’t stir it! Set it on a wire rack and let it cool completely before breaking the granola up. If you don’t like your granola to stick together, stir every 8-10 minutes during the cooking time and right after you take it out of the oven.
We eat our granola on Greek yogurt, with milk like cereal, and just plain for a quick snack. You could also try topping muffins with it before they go in the oven for a delicious crunch.
What do you like to put in your granola?
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Love the look of this recipe! I really like muesli and granola, as well as mixing together different cereals. Even something as simple as oats with pumpkin seeds, cashews and raisins can be quite tasty!
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This looks delicious! Thanks for sharing.
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I made two batches of the granola this evening to give to friends. It is so yummy I plan to make more this weekend.
Yay! So glad you like it. What did you put in yours?
Your little helpers are so cute!! We have only tried homemade granola one time, and it was really good. I really need to make it more often. Stopping by from Saturday Dishes. We, Coffee With Us 3, are the ones that are talking over in January. Thank you for linking up! We hope you continue to do so.
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Your granola looks delicious. Thank you so much for sharing with Adorned From Above’s Link Party. We love having your join the fun.
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I just made this. It’s so good. I use to make granola when my kids were little. They have been asking for the recipe. Now I can give them one. My grandkids will like this.
Awesome Darla! I’m glad it worked for you.
I literally just made these. VERY GOOD! I made the mistake of tasting it right out of the oven and it didn’t have that crunchy texture to it. I thought I had messed up, but once I let it cool….it was crunchy and oh so delicious! This was my first time ever trying something like this.
Thank you for the recipe! I will be making again and again 🙂
That is so funny! Yes, you don’t want to touch it until it cools to get those delicious chunks 🙂 Awesome, glad you like it!
Thanks for this quick, easy recipe. I’ve been wanting to try my hand at making oatmeal, and after reading this, I got a batch together, and it’s in the oven cooking right now! Looking forward to eating it soon:)
It doesn’t seem like 2 tablespoons of peanut butter will be enough….may have to add more to accommodate. What do you think?
I’ve never tried it, but if you use too much it might not dry out enough or you’ll have to cook it longer. Maybe try substituting the extra 2 tablespoons of sweetener for more peanut butter? If you try it, let me know how it turns out!
Could you add Chia seeds to this?
I’ve never cooked with Chia seeds before. You could try adding them right when it comes out of the oven? Let me know if you do!
I have added Chia seeds to mine and it gives it extra crunch and protein.
I am looking for just a plain granola recipe; no nuts, no fruit, etc. Do you think I could substitute those things with more oats and it would come out? I like nuts and dried fruit, I just don’t usually have them on hand. Thanks!
Yes! I think it would turn out just fine.
Made your granola today, it came out fantastic! So quick & easy. Goodbye store brands. Thank you!
So happy to have found this! Not sure what I did wrong (I think I was a little light on the dry ingredients) but I had to cook it quite a bit longer than what is called for to dry up some of the liquid on the bottom layer. None the less, its great! I did substitute pure maple syrup for the honey (its what I had) and added a little extra cinnamon, bc why not? 🙂
Yum! Pure maple syrup sounds awesome. That’s probably why you had to cook it a little longer as the maple syrup is more liquid than the brown sugar. I’m glad it turned out! Maybe increase the heat and watch it carefully if you want a shorter cook time?
Could you mix together the peanut butter and syrup? I love doing this to top pancakes…
Sounds good to me! Try it and let me know 🙂
I am making this now per a friend’s request and I am so excited about it! I ran out of butter and I’m hesitant to use coconut oil. Have you tried this with olive oil?
No, but I have tried it with canola so I don’t see why it would be any different. If you have extra virgin, it might have a different taste. Let me know how it turns out!
Coconut oil works great in granola! I just used it to make a batch for us (our recipe in almost identical to this one), and it turned out perfectly. 🙂
I ended up using vegetable oil. I added raisins, chopped dates, chopped walnuts, almonds slivers, and pumpkin seeds and used honey and brown sugar to sweeten, with an undetermined amount of cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and ground cloves. It turned out great!! Thanks for sharing!!
Absolutely love this recipe. I’ve been trying to find one ever since I spent a year in America. Thanks for sharing ! <3
I’ve all the ingredients in the pantry…making it today! Your little helper is so adorable…enjoy her….they grow up FAST! Reminds me of my son when he used to ‘help’ me:) he’s all of 24 years now:)
Quick question but first your recipe sounds delicious! Back to the question….on your measurements for the nuts/seeds, spices and fruit is it 1c of each of the nuts, 1/2c of each of the dried fruits and 1T of each of the spices? or is it 1 c of nuts, etc? Thanks for the recipe, anxious to try it.
Good Question Christine! It is just 1 c of nuts etc. and you can pick what kind. I was just giving suggestions on what types of things you could put in your granola. Thanks so much!
How do you store it.
It makes a lot
I just put it in a plastic container with a lid. Yes, it does! I have 4 kids now so it doesn’t last long in my house 🙂 Plus we eat it instead of cereal. Thanks for stopping by!
How do you store it?
It makes a lot
In fridge or Tupperware .?
I put it in Tupperware in the pantry. I’m not sure how it will do in the fridge?
Great Recipe!!! Thanks for sharing!
I’ve made this a few times and it is AWESOME. The last two times I added the cinnamon, and chia seeds in with the vanilla, coconut oil, and maple syrup and it seems to integrate them a little better. Now I don’t get to the end of it and have as much cinnamon chia seed dust.
How much chia seed did you add?
First time to make granola and it turned out perfect! Thanks so much for sharing your recipe!!!
YAY! This recipe is precisely what I was looking for. I love that you put the optional ideas right in the ingredients list for easy mix and matching. When I make this I think I’ll throw in a table spoon of Flax meal (I’ve been trying to sneak it in everything), and maybe some dried apple pieces (apple pie granola? yes please!) Thank you for posting this!!
Just made this and it is incredibly easy and DELICIOUS!!! Thank you for the recipe!
I’m thinking of making some of this and bringing it with me to college. Do you know about how long the granola would keep? I want to know how much of it I should make at a time so that it won’t go stale.
It should last about 2 weeks.
Trying this tonight and plan on separating it into mason jars & giving them as gifts! Can you tell me approximately how much this recipe makes? 🙂
Great idea! I think about 6 cups.
I’ve loved your recipe ‘guide’ ( I customize it every time!) for about a year now. I recently discovered a small individual packet of grain free granola from Lara Bar. I looked at the ingredients and am trying to duplicate it as we speak! Pretty much yours, no oats… Which leads me to ask about shelf time/refrigeration. I’m making quite a lot, and will freeze some- but with all nuts and seeds that are roasted (most were raw to start) do I need to be careful? Thanks!
Hi Susan! Thank you so much for letting me know you like it 🙂 I’m not totally sure about shelf time. Please don’t take my word for it. I usually do 2 weeks in the pantry. If I refrigerate, I’m usually good for a month. If you could vacuum pack it and get most of the air out it would last longer.
I made this and it tastes good but it it was loose. Any suggestions? We prefer our granola more chunky.
Hi Cristal, I would try more sugar, no stirring until it is totally cool. I usually get big chunks if I do that. If I cook it too long it won’t stay together either.
I love your recipe. We’ve been making granola for years and I always enjoy trying a new recipe.
With 8 kids we tend to buy everything in bulk, including cereal. After shopping we transfer each kind to its own container. Well, you know all the crumbs and crumbles that end up at the bottom of the cereal container? Instead of throwing them out I poor them into a bag and keep accumulating it until it comes time to make granola. It’s a nice way to add some variety to our granola since it’s usually some combination of things like shredded wheat, Special K, Rice Krispies…that sort of thing.
Delicious!!! Have tried 3 times with different ingredients each time. Love how simple you made it seem to “make it your own” and it was! Each time I added cranberries & golden raisins. This last time I did not cook the cranberries & raisins then stirred them in at the point it came out of the oven & it worked best for my palate. THX for including all the varieties!!!!
Amazing and easy. I Used Rice Syrup to sweeten and coconut Oil. I added chopped almonds, chopped raw cashews, sunflower seeds and chopped dried apricots. It is soooooo good, I can’t stop snacking on it! Will definitely make again.
Mine just came out of the oven. Can’t wait for it to cool. My family can’t stand coconut, so I used 1/2 cups of mixture of sliced almonds, chopped pecans, chopped walnuts and pepitas. M:y fruit was 1 cup mixture of dried apricots, dried apples and dried cranberries. For the spices, used a mixture of cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, allspice and nutmeg. I used 1/4 cup brown sugar and 2 Tbl agave. Rounded it out with 1 tsp Mexican Vanilla and 1/2 tsp almond flavoring. Made the whole house smell so good while in the oven. I think this is Christmas gift worthy. Thanks so much!
Thank you so much for your awesome recipe. I made 2 batches in winter time and it was delicious. I am making some tomorrow for my kids going away to university. It would be great to use it as a topping for yogurt.
So glad! Yes, we use it on yogurt all the time 🙂 Thank you for your comment!
Is there a print recipe only box, can’t find. thank you.
If I want to use coconut oil, since it is solid, how do you soften it enough for it to mix evenly throughout the granola before baking? I have never used it for cooking, but like the idea. Just not sure how to go about it! Thanks 🙂
I would just melt it on the stove over low for a min. It should become a liquid right away. Thanks for stopping by!
About how long will this last? Was thinking of making some up and then using my food saver with the jar attachment.
Sorry for the delayed response! I think if you use honey, it will last a long time! Probably a few weeks.
I just made the granola and can’t stop eating it. Thank you for the recipe.
So glad you liked it! Thanks for commenting and letting me know! It means a lot!
You might add to the recipe, for new granola makers like me, that the granola crisps up after it cools, not in the oven. I kept putting it back in the oven because it wasn’t getting crisp. I overcooked it. Next time I’ll know. It’s a terrific recipe, otherwise! Thank you!
Great advice! Sorry I wasn’t more clear. Thank you!
For the sweetener it says 1/4 c + 2 tbls . Then it says you can use 2 tablespoons of peanut butter. Is that it or do you need a 1/4 cup of something else with it?
I think maybe 1/4 + 2 tbls of peanut butter.
This looks so good! What a great breakfast meal prep for the whole family!
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
Great recipe! But, you should NEVER add the dried fruit until after your granola is cooled. You can break your teeth on the very hard dry fruit if you cook it with the granola.
Am I missing the printable recipe? I don’t like to have to follow along on my computer.
Just made this it’s delicious!! Used coconut oil and had to use regular sweetened coconut as my store didn’t have the unsweetened flakes…also did pecans…slivered almonds and sunflower seeds sooooo good! Will definitely make again and give as gifts! Thanks.
I am glad you found other substitutions, and that you enjoyed them 🙂