Homemade Granola

There's a lot to love about this homemade granola recipe. It's easy to make, it's healthy, it's delicious, and it will make your kitchen smell amazing!

Best granola

If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent hours in the granola aisle at the grocery store, trying to find just the right kind. You know the one – it has lots of fun mix-ins like nuts and dried fruit, it’s sweet, but not too sweet, it’s spiced with cinnamon, and it’s filled with big clusters of oats and nuts. And if you’re anything like me, you’ve come to realize that it’s nearly impossible to find the perfect granola at the store.

Enter: my homemade granola recipe! Instead of using white or brown sugar, I sweeten it naturally with a modest amount of maple syrup, so it’s just the right amount of sweet. I spice it generously with cinnamon, and I add a scoop of almond butter to form lots of nutty clusters. It’s also customizable, a yummy template for whatever dried fruits and nuts I (or you) might be craving.

But best of all, it’s easy to make! Just stir together the dry ingredients, drizzle in the wet ingredients, and mix it all together. Bake for 30 minutes, and it’s ready to go. Healthy, simple, and totally delicious, this recipe is guaranteed to make you a homemade granola convert!

Oats, nuts, coconut, and cinnamon in a bowl

Granola Recipe Ingredients (+Variations!)

My healthy granola recipe starts with four basic ingredients: whole rolled oats, maple syrup, cinnamon, and coconut oil. Then, I add these mix-ins for extra flavor and texture:

  • Almond butter – The key ingredient for creating delicious nutty clusters! Plus, it packs this granola recipe with protein.
  • Chopped walnuts – They add crunch, protein, and healthy fats! Walnuts are my go-to here, but I often swap them for another nut or seed or use a mix. Chopped or slivered almonds, pecans, pistachios, cashews, and sunflower seeds are some of my favorites.
  • Unsweetened coconut flakes – If you’re not a coconut person, feel free to leave these out, but I love their toasty, buttery flavor and crispy texture in this recipe.
  • Dried cranberries – For a pop of sweetness and yummy chewy texture! I’m a cranberry fan, but goji berries, raisins, chopped dried apricots, dried currants, tart cherries, and blueberries would all be great. And if you prefer your granola without dried fruit, go ahead and skip it!

Let me know what variations you try!

How to make granola

Homemade Granola Tips

  • More nutty clusters = better granola. Big clusters of oats and nuts are hands down the best part of granola. To encourage these clumps to form, press the oats mixture into a 1-inch thick oval for the first 15 minutes of baking. Then, remove the pan from the oven and use a fork to gently break the oval apart. Bake for 15 minutes more, and you’ll end up with lots of delicious clusters!
  • Let it cool before diving in. Your homemade granola will continue to crisp up as it cools. It’s tempting to start eating it as soon as it comes out of the oven, but if you let it rest for 15 minutes on the sheet pan, it’ll be extra crisp and toasty – totally worth the wait!
  • Add the dried fruit at the end. You don’t want to run the risk of burning your dried fruit in the oven, so stir it into the granola after it cools. That way, you know any dried fruit you add will be soft and chewy, not crisp. (P.S. It doesn’t hurt to add a handful of chocolate chips at this stage, either!)

Homemade granola recipe

Store your granola in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. Enjoy it on its own as a snack, add it to a yogurt parfait, or eat it like cereal with a splash of milk! I love granola with my homemade maple vanilla oat milk.

Homemade granola

More Favorite Breakfast Recipes

If you love this homemade granola recipe, find more healthy breakfast ideas here and more brunch ideas here. Then, try making one of these oat-y breakfasts next:

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Homemade Granola

rate this recipe:
4.93 from 264 votes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Serves 4 to 6
Love granola? Learn how to make your own! Feel free to customize this recipe with your favorite nuts, seeds, and dried fruit.

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 300°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • In a medium bowl, combine the oats, walnuts, coconut flakes, if using, cinnamon, and salt. Drizzle in the coconut oil and maple syrup and add the almond butter. Stir until combined. Scoop the granola onto the baking sheet and press the mixture into a 1-inch-thick oval. This will encourage clumping.
  • Bake for 15 minutes, rotate the pan halfway, and use a fork to gently break the granola apart just a bit. Bake for 15 minutes more, or until golden brown. Sprinkle with dried cranberries, if desired. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

 

257 comments

4.93 from 264 votes (154 ratings without comment)

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Rate this recipe (after making it)




  1. Octavia
    09.21.2022

    Do you have a particular brand of whole rolled oats that you recommend?

  2. Nicole Schneiter
    09.19.2022

    5 stars
    So easy to make and personalize! I can’t wait to keep experimenting with this recipe, although you can’t go wrong with the classic either.

  3. Traci Hale
    09.18.2022

    5 stars
    Is delicious mixed in my morning yogurt

  4. Catherine Reedy
    09.18.2022

    5 stars
    We added cacao powder for a chocolatey taste- delicious!

  5. Lisa Wysocki
    09.18.2022

    5 stars
    I was a little leery about the amount of cinnamon especially since I multiplied the batch by 4 but it was delicious!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      09.19.2022

      I’m so glad you loved it!

  6. Shira Isenberg
    09.17.2022

    5 stars
    This granola was super easy to make and super yummy. I’m going to have to fight my family off if I want this to last past tomorrow’s breakfast!

    I subbed raisins for the cranberries since that’s what I had.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      09.19.2022

      I’m so glad you loved it!

  7. Paula Murray
    09.15.2022

    5 stars
    Just took my granola out of the oven and it smells amazing! Can’t wait to eat this after it cools!

  8. Emily Simaika
    09.14.2022

    5 stars
    This was so good!! Great after school snack too!

  9. Jackie Macy
    09.13.2022

    Flavorful granola! We loved the cinnamon smell as it was baking. I added some dried peaches. Double batch next time!

  10. Ashley Schirripa
    09.13.2022

    5 stars
    Simple and delicious. It’s go to recipe for me and I have it all the time with almond milk.

  11. Melissa O
    09.12.2022

    5 stars
    This is great with yogurt and fruit. I added walnuts and almonds. Also used chocolate hazelnut butter as an alternative to almond butter as I didn’t have any. It clumps like it is supposed too. May do less cinnamon next time. Overall delish.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      09.13.2022

      I’m so glad you enjoyed!

  12. Kelly
    09.12.2022

    This was SO good. It smelled amazing while bdd as king and tasted just as good.

  13. Alana
    09.12.2022

    Delicious recipe! Not a fan of coconut, so I left that out. I added almonds and dried cranberries too. I’ll be sure to use this recipe as a basis to make other granola variation recipes.

  14. Katie Valentine
    09.11.2022

    5 stars
    Our house loves almond butter so this was a fun recipe!

    The granola was a tad salty by itself, but it was perfect when paired with sweet fruit and yogurt. Such an easy weekend morning breakfast recipe that will keep for the whole week.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      09.13.2022

      I’m glad you all enjoyed it!

  15. Katherine Floriano
    09.11.2022

    5 stars
    Almond butter is a game changer!

  16. Amy Shooman
    09.10.2022

    5 stars
    Favorite granola recipe! Love the addition of the almond butter.

  17. Marilee Groeneweg
    09.10.2022

    5 stars
    Easy to make and yummy

  18. Annika Carnes
    09.09.2022

    5 stars
    This homemade granola is absolutely delicious! And so easy to make. Much better than store bought! I used date syrup instead of the maple syrup only because I prefer date syrup. So tasty! I will definitely make this again.

  19. Laurie L
    09.09.2022

    Regarding making this for the September 2022 Cooking Club: is this contest open to Canadian residents?

  20. josephine
    09.06.2022

    5 stars
    Loved it. I didn’t have almond butter so I used tahini, which is awesome. Also instead of walnuts I used pecans, sunflower seeds and cashews.

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Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.