How to Make Easy Homemade Granola
Here’s how to make easy homemade granola to fit your cravings or what you have in your pantry. Make your next batch of granola just the way you want it!
A few years ago I discovered that homemade granola was SO MUCH BETTER than the stuff I bought at the grocery store, and I’ve never looked back.
This easy homemade granola is sweet, crunchy, and full of so much flavor. And the best part about it is completely adaptable! You can use whatever mixins you like, choose your favorite sweetener like honey or maple syrup, and add even more flavor with ground cinnamon or vanilla extract.
I have suggestions for flavor combinations like nutty-coconut, cherry-almond, and peanut butter-chocolate, but I also include instructions and tips to make your own delicious granola combination.
How to make easy homemade granola
To make granola at home you need just 6 things:
- Old-fashioned rolled oats
- Sweetener
- Oil or butter
- Salt
- Mix-ins like nuts or dried fruit
- Additional flavorings like cinnamon or vanilla
Start with oats and mix-ins
The base for granola is old fashioned rolled oats, but you’ll want to add other mixins for flavor, texture, heartiness, and fun! I usually keep a ratio of 2 cups of oats to 1-2 cups of total mixins. Here are some options to choose from, add one or several:
- Nuts— pecans, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, and peanuts, etc. You can leave them whole or give them a rough chop.
- Dried fruit— cranberries, cherries, and blueberries, etc.
- Coconut— I prefer unsweetened wide-slice coconut or coconut “chips” but you can use shredded or flaked coconut.
- Chocolate chunks or chocolate chips
Tip: Dried fruit and chocolate should only be added after granola is baked and cooled.
Choose sweetener, flavorings, and oil or butter
Feel free to use any of these sweeteners:
- Maple syrup
- Honey
- Brown sugar
And any of these oils or fats:
- Olive oil
- Canola oil
- Melted coconut oil
- Melted butter
For additional flavor, add one or more of the following:
- Vanilla extract
- Other extracts like almond, coconut, etc.
- Ground cinnamon or other spices like cardamom, pumpkin spice, etc.
- Nut butter like peanut butter or almond butter (melted)
Combine and bake
- Combine dry ingredients. In one large bowl combine the oats, mix-ins (except dried fruit or chocolate), salt, and any other non-liquid additions like cinnamon.
- Combine liquids. In another bowl whisk sweetener, oil/butter and any liquid flavorings like vanilla.
- Toss together. Make sure dry ingredients are completely covered and mixture is uniform.
- Dump out on sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Bake low and slow. This way the granola toasts and dries out without burning. Stir just once while baking.
- Let cool completely. Resist the urge to stir! Let granola cool completely, then break into chunks. If you stir while it’s still warm, you’ll destroy all the delicious clumps.
- Add any final mix-ins like dried fruit or chocolate.
Tip: It can be hard to know when granola is done as it should still appear wet when it comes out of the oven (it will finish drying as it cools). Look for oats and mix-ins that are lightly toasted, and granola should have a delicious sweet and buttery aroma.
Ways to use this granola
There’s no wrong way to enjoy homemade granola, and I promise that you will enjoy it! Here are a few ideas in case you need them:
- Serve with milk or yogurt and fresh fruit
- Snack on handfuls straight from the jar
- Add to trail mix
- Sprinkle over ice cream
- Stir into smoothies
How to Store Granola
Granola will last for about a month stored in an airtight container at room temperature. Just make sure granola is completely cool before storing.
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How To Make Easy Homemade Granola
Ingredients
Basic Granola Recipe:
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats (180 grams)
- 1 - 2 cups nuts, coconut, dried fruit, seeds, or chopped chocolate (140-280 grams)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon spice such as cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, pumpkin pie spice
- ⅓ cup olive oil, vegetable oil, melted butter, or melted coconut oil (about 66 grams)
- ¼ cup sweetener such as sugar, maple syrup or honey (about 84 grams)
- 1 teaspoon flavoring such as vanilla, coconut, or almond extract
Nutty Coconut Granola:
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (180 grams)
- ½ cup sliced almonds (43 grams)
- ½ cup chopped pecans (57 grams)
- ½ cup unsweetened coconut (30 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅓ cup coconut oil , melted (75 grams)
- ¼ cup maple syrup (77 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cherry Almond Granola:
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (180 grams)
- 1 cup ½almonds (43 grams)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup melted butter (75 grams)
- ¼ cup honey (66 grams)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ cup dried cherries (71 grams)
Peanut Butter Chocolate Granola:
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (180 grams)
- ⅔ cup peanuts (95 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup coconut oil , melted (75 grams)
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter , melted (33 grams)
- ¼ cup maple syrup (77 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup mini chocolate chips (116 grams)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Line sheet pan with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
- In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients: oats, nuts, coconut, salt, spices etc.
- In a separate bowl, combine the liquids: oil/melted butter, extracts, and liquid sweetener.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly so that everything is moistened.
- Spread out on a large sheet pan and bake until lightly toasted, 25-30 minutes, stirring once. The granola will still appear wet but will dry as it is cools.
- Let granola cool completely in the pan, then bread into chunks. Add any dried fruit or chocolate chips if using.
- Store granola in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.
Notes
- Use the Basic Granola Recipe as a starting place to create your own granola combination, or use one of the provided combinations.
- Makes 4 cups.
- Nutrition information calculated for "Nutty Coconut" combination.
- Be sure to not add dried fruit or chocolate until after baked granola is cooled.
I’m all about the granola, snacks, breakfast, dessert! Lovely post
What a great base recipe Annalise! We love granola at our house but I’ll be honest, it’s taken me awhile to jump on that homemade train too. I think it’s just a time thing for me but I know with this recipe I could make a big batch on the weekend and it would last awhile!
I think it may have been a time thing for me too. But it’s so easy to throw together! Make a batch while you’re in the kitchen doing something else, it only takes a few minutes of active time!
Homemade granola is the only way to go!
I love that you have just a template here because every time I make granola, I’m craving something different!
I’m exactly the same way! I can’t leave well enough alone, I always have to do some tweaking. And as long as I stick to this formula I know it’s going to turn out great!
My mom always adds karo syrup as the sweetener…LOVE it.
Another great suggestion to add to the list!
Just happens that someone just posted on my blog that she had never made granola before … so I sent her your post 🙂
Thanks Becky! 🙂
Loving the blog, and I’m with you; why not make your own? My granola is an oddly personal thing, and it changes every time! My dwindling batch right now is pumpkin seed, currant, and candied lemon peel, and next up is almond, hemp nut, coconut, and chopped dates! It’s such an odd, fun, creative thing. Kashi’s all made from GMO soy anyway.
we’ve been buying granola for some time and we use it a lot for desserts and we just thought how awesome it would be to make our own granola and not have to buy and we looked up “how to make granola” and this popped up and we followed the recipe and loooooved it.
Now try making your own yogurt! Found a crockpot yogurt on youtube that is awesome! I’m eating my yogurt, granola and some fresh blueberries, thanks!
I would love to make my own yogurt. Good tip of looking on Youtube for help. Thanks!
I would like to know,, what is oat bran? I that a cereal or flour or what
Oat bran is the outer husk of the oat grain. All grains have three parts: Bran, germ, endosperm (which is the part they grind up to make flour). They sell oat bran separate as people like to add it to recipes as a way to add more fiber to your diet. Hope this helps.
Hi there how do you store my new granola ?
Store it in an airtight container at room temperature. It should last for up to 2 weeks or longer.
This looks really delicious and I’m going to try it right now! But how much oil should I use if I use if I don’t use the 1 cup of nuts and 1 cup of more nuts and dried fruit (basically using only oats)?
Maybe try cutting the oil in half and see how that is. You want the oats to be thoroughly moistened. Add more if needed.
Any idea why my oats keep coming out soggy? I have tried cooking a bit longer and they burn.
Hi,
How do you stir the contents in a shallow baking pan? Wouldn’t they go all over the oven? Should I just turn the oats over or try to move them around?
This might be a stupid question but that’s ok! 🙂
Stephanie
Not a stupid question! 🙂 I mix everything together in a large bowl before spreading it into a sheet pan to bake. Then to stir it while baking, I take it out of the oven and gently turn and stir the mixture with a spatula so it doesn’t spill. Then back into the oven it goes.
Hope this helps!
Making this tonight! Looks so yummy
Great page. I have to say though, it’s much better without the poison sugar. I’ve been making my own granola for years and if you have fruit you really don’t need to add any sweeteners.
Great granola recipe. It’s also a good recipe for diabetics. Made a batch for me, who eat regular sugar and a batch for my dad with diabetes using Splenda as the sugar substitute. So yummy. Thanks a lots.
How wonderful, thanks so much for the comment!
I sweeten mine by cooking some dates in some water (quantities are flexible);until really soft and then beat it thoroughly until I have a liquid that looks a little like tea- no pieces of fruit- and mix that in the bowl with the other ingredients before baking. I also like to add the finely grated rind of an orange after it has cooled.
Brilliant! Thanks for sharing!
Ok, I just tried this. Great recipe for me, because I’m allergic to nuts & I can substitute what most would consider way too many sunflower seeds. A word of warning… 30 min at 350 F in my oven fills the oven with smoke (a bit of a surprise) and makes the granola dark brown — edible, and not bad, but not what anyone looking for normal granola flavor would expect. Burnt granola is not sweet – it’s very toasty tasting. Next batch will get about 15 minutes. The key concept, for baking is “until golden brown”… 30 minutes can be overdone.
That would never last for two weeks in my house. Thank you!
Thanks for the easy to follow base formula! I was down to half a cup of oats so quartered the batch. Pecans and coconut with almond and vanilla extract. It’s absolutely delicious!
What else can be added instead of nuts my sons girlfriend is allergic to nuts?
Add whatever you’d like! You could increase the oats or coconut or add things like seeds (not sure if those are excluded from nut allergies?) and dried fruit. Even chopped chocolate. If you use dried fruit, add it after the baked granola has cooled.
Sounds good. I will be making this for Holiday gifts, especially for my best friend and his nutritionist Girlfriend! I am fortunate to have an unending, free supply of maple syrup to go in mine. I will also make some without any sweetener for a coworker who doesn’t eat sugar of any kind.
What a great idea, making it for holiday gifting!
My son and I made this together today. He wanted pecan and maple. I wanted cherry pecan. I made a pan with pineapple, mango, and pecan and it was the best one. We used coconut oil in place of oil and added coconut to all 3 kinds. Thanks so much for the receipe.
Wow, this looks amazing, and looks fairly easy!
How long does this keep for? Want to make quite a batch, but depends on how long it stays okay for..
Thank you 🙂
If stored in an airtight container, it should keep for up to several weeks!
It’s past midnight in Singapore. My daughter and I just finished cleaning up after making an improvised version of this including simmering the butter with some old cinnamon quills over a low heat and dark brown sugar we found in the cupboard. We used organic hulled oats, bags of mixed dried fruit and nuts on sale, Madagascar vanilla essence left over from making paraben-free soap.
The mixture alone was good enough to eat without baking. Dead easy. It started burning after 10 minutes at 350F but we caught it in time to salvage most of it. Thank you so much! I’ll never eat shop-bought granola again.
PS: We just completed our first-ever batch of coconut yogurt today as well with the easiest possible recipe: Cartons of coconut cream, capsules of probiotics, stir, leave in a mason jar for less than 24 hours in our tropical heat and it was done.
Looks yum…can this be tried with Jaggery?
I’m so sorry, but I am not familiar with Jaggery so I had to do a little google search. 🙂 I’m sure you could, though since I am unfamiliar with it I couldn’t give any amount suggestions. Feel free to experiment though!
This is extremely useful! My first batch was delicious! I added coarsely chopped almonds, unsweetened coconut, honey, canola oil, vanilla, and cinnamon to the oats. It wasn’t overwhelmingly sweet like some store-bought granolas are.
Also, homemade granola is a dream come true to me–I can never eat the gourmet ones because of my peanut allergy and have always had to buy the basic boxed stuff, but now I can create my own gourmet blends! Nuts are still a limitation, though, because I can only eat one brand of almonds (thankfully widely available) and one brand of pecans (sadly rather scarce).
Anyway, thank you so much for posting this!
Back in the 70’s people had to revert to commodities and our family was one of them. My husband worked construction and we had four kids. In those days you just didn’t run to Welfare and have someone hand you money and food stamps. My husband was laid of for about four months and we went on commodities. Very embarrassing but necessary. We were given recipes to make things that were cheap to make and granola was the favorite things my kids loved. They loved it for breakfast with the powdered milk we were given and fruit. I had forgotten about making it until I saw this post and am now 78 and I’m gonna make some for my great grandson. Thank You. I guess what goes around, comes around.
Wow. Beautiful story 🙂
Made this on the weekekend, great recipe. Tastes great.Thanks for sharing .
I have a question. How can I add peanut butter into the recipe?
So simple to make. I have never made granola before this recipe. It is so delicious. I can’t wait to make every flavor possible.
Yummy – used the basic recipe and built from there. Has turned out just lovely and morish.