How to Make Homemade Granola

Learn how to make a homemade granola that works as a perfect topper to yogurt or oatmeal or by itself as a muesli cereal!

With so many different options for granola at the grocery store, it can be hard to choose which one you want. And when you do find that perfect mixture, it almost always disappears within a week. Then, when it comes back, it’s suddenly too expensive to be a weekly purchase anymore. So why not avoid the hassle at the store and just make your own homemade granola mixture that not only lasts more than a week but also won’t cost you an arm and a leg?0.1

Healthy Granola Ingredients

Excluding having oats, oil, and a sweetener, everything else in this homemade granola recipe is completely customizable to your tastes and what you have in your pantry.

Oats

Oats are the main ingredient of this granola. You’ll want to use old-fashioned rolled oats for this recipe, and if you’re gluten-free like us make sure that they’re labeled gluten-free as well. Oats themselves don’t have gluten, but they can sometimes be cross-contaminated with other grains during packaging if they aren’t in specifically gluten-free batches.

Sweetener

The sweetener does more than just add flavoring to your granola; it’s what helps everything stick together in clumps. That’s why we suggest using a syrupy sweetener. Honey, maple syrup, agave, or simple syrup are all great options for this recipe. I like to swap between honey and maple syrup depending on what flavor I want.

Oil

Coating your granola in a cooking oil will help it crisp into a delicious golden brown during baking. When choosing the oil for your granola, we suggest one with a light taste that won’t overpower your granola. Unrefined coconut oil is one of my favorite options, but I’ve also had luck with avocado oil.

Nuts

Adding crushed nuts to your granola gives you an excellent protein boost and gives your granola a nice crunch. The nuts you use are entirely up to you! I like using almonds, pecans, and walnuts, but you can also add in pistachios, cashews, and macadamia nuts. Really, the options are endless!

Seeds

I like to add different seeds, such as chia seeds, hemp seeds, flaxseeds, and pepitas, for various health benefits. Like with nuts, the options are endless and entirely up what you want your granola to taste like!

Dried Fruit

Adding dried fruit is optional. If you want to cut the amount of sugar in your granola, you may want to lower the amount of fruit added. However, fruits can give the granola a fantastic taste and texture and really help you customize it to your taste. We use raisins or cranberries in our granola. Fried strawberries, apples, bananas, mangos, really any fruit you can think of could work!

Spices

I like to add in spices to strengthen my granola’s taste. Cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, ginger, vanilla, cocoa powder, etc.; the possibilities are endless. You can even change up your flavorings to make an apple cinnamon or pumpkin pie granola for the holidays. You may also want to add a pinch of salt to your granola for flavor.

Miscellaneous Additions

The various other additions are where you can go wild. The options truly are limitless. You can add dark chocolate chunks, coconut flakes, citrus zest, butterscotch, cocoa nibs, candy, and more! Just be sure that if you add something like butterscotch or chocolate, you add it AFTER baking your oatmeal or it will melt and crate a runny mess.

Tips on baking your homemade granola

• Use a baking sheet with a large lip to prevent granola spillage when moving the baking sheet in and out of the oven.
• Place a silicon mat or parchment paper on the baking sheet under the granola before baking to help prevent the granola from sticking to the baking sheet.
• If you want larger clumps in your granola, press down on it halfway through baking to help the sugars in getting granola chunks to stick together. After baking, be sure not to break up the granola until it has fully cooled. This allows the sugars to solidify and create those large chunks you may so desire.

Homemade Granola

Yield: ~10 cups

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Learn how to make your very own healthy granola that works as a perfect topping to yogurt or oatmeal or even by itself as a muesli!

Print

Ingredients

• 4 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
• 2 cups crushed pecans and walnuts
• 1 cup pepitas
• 1/2 cup hemp seeds
• 1/2 cup chia seeds
• 1/2 cup flaxseeds
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon powdered cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup raisins

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine all of your dry ingredients in a large bowl: oatmeal, spices, nuts, seeds, coconut flakes, and raisins. Mix thoroughly.
3. Then, add in your liquid ingredients: honey, vanilla extract, and melted coconut oil.
4. Mix in the liquids until they are fully incorporated into the dry ingredients. You should start to see clumping once they are ready.
5. Scoop the granola onto a baking sheet lined with either a silicon mat or parchment paper.
6. Place in the oven for around 25 minutes. Halfway through the baking, press down on the granola mixture and rotate the pan.
7. Once the granola becomes golden on the top, take it out and let it cool completely before transferring it to an airtight container.

Notes

Feel free to make adjustments on any of the ingredients in the recipe to match your tastes and preferences!

Your granola should last for around 4 weeks at room temperature.

Try adding this granola to our homemade chia seed pudding or yogurt recipes, or even just eat it all by itself as a cereal!

What are your favorite additions to add into your granola? Comment below!