Homemade Granola is both easy to make and cost-efficient, let alone super crunchy and tasty, and is perfect in yogurt, milk, and a topping for ice cream! Add granola to my Apple Nachos with Peanut Butter recipe.
Homemade Granola
Granola is a mixture of sweetened toasted oats mixed with raisins and dried fruit. It is a wonderful snack or breakfast food. Making your own homemade granola insures you know what ingredients are in the granola, as well as adding your favorite dried fruit to the mix.
Homemade Granola Ingredients
Oats: I used both old-fashioned oats and quick oats in this recipe. The old-fashioned oats give the granola mix a heartier texture.
Cinnamon: A couple of teaspoons of cinnamon give the granola added flavor.
Maple Syrup: Real Maple syrup sweetens the granola as well as helps hold it together.
Coconut Oil: Adding coconut oil to homemade granola gives it some added fat so you don’t end up with super-dry oats. When you buy coconut oil, look for it in its solid form. You can stir it into granola in the solid form, but I often heat it slightly so that it turns to liquid (making it a bit easier to incorporate). I cannot taste any coconut in the granola.
Turbinado Sugar: Turbinado Sugar is a sugar that would fall between granulated sugar and light brown sugar in both color and flavor. It has a yellowish-brown color and with some molasses content left in the turbinado sugar (which gives it the color), it will provide a slight butterscotch flavor and has larger and coarser grains. If you can’t find turbinado sugar, you can use granulated sugar for the granola mixture.
Dried Fruit: I used a combination of raisins and craisins in this recipe. You could use all raisins or all of your favorite kind of dried fruit. Or, leave it out altogether.
How to Make Homemade Granola
Once you make your own granola, you will want to make it to have on hand often! To make the granola, first, combine all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Spread out the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 250°F (yes, a low temperature) for 30 minutes. Then, stir the granola and bake an additional 15-30 minutes, or until the mixture is mostly dry (it may still feel a bit soft).
Remove the granola from the oven and let it rest for at least 45 minutes, to an hour. This will allow the granola to harden and get the crispy texture it is known for.
How to Store Homemade Granola
Once the granola has been baked, be sure to let it cool completely before storing (otherwise it could get soggy). Store cooled granola in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 6 months. Keep it in a cool, dry place.
You can also freeze granola. To freeze it, again, let it cool completely. Then, store it in freezer-safe containers (like a freezer-safe zipped bag). Label and date the container; it is best when stored for about 3 months, but can be stored longer (it just might not be quite as great).
Air Fryer Granola
You can absolutely make this recipe in your air fryer! The only issue is you may need to work in batches. Combine the ingredients and place onto a parchment-lined rack or into the air fryer basket lined with parchment paper. Cook in air fryer for about 15 minutes at 300°F, stirring at least twice.
Add Granola to These Treats
Homemade Granola
Ingredients
- 2 cups (180g) old fashioned oats
- 2 cups (180g) quick-cooking oats
- 2-4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ cup (157g) pure maple syrup
- ½ cup (109g) coconut oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 -2 tablespoons turbinado sugar, or granulated sugar
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup dried fruit of choice, like dried blueberries or Pomegranate Craisins
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients.
- Spread the mixture onto the lined baking sheet and bake for thirty minutes. Remove and stir gently. Then, put the granola back in the oven for 15-30 minutes, or until mostly dry.
- Remove from oven and let sit out for at least one hour.
- Store in an air-tight container in a cool, dry place.
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
I absolutely love homemade granola! I’ll have to try your recipe 🙂
That looks delicious and I LOVE granola. I’m starting to feel like myself again and really want to get back into baking. This is definatly going on the list of things to make!
It’s just so amazing how coconut oil works in many ways. Aside from the fact that it can be used in cooking, it can also be applied on skin and hair. I really love coconut oil! I got mine from http://products.mercola.com/coconut-oil/ By the way, thanks for this granola recipe. I will surely try it this weekend!
I too am obsessed with granola, and I am always trying to find a better one. Okay so I actually posted just say that I can see exactly why you almost cried. I just pulled my pan of granola out of the oven and as I looked at it, all I could say to myself was “SHUT UP”!!! I even couldn’t resist tasting it hot because of all of those beautiful golden clusters. Needless to say, but I don’t think I’ll be looking for anymore granola recipes, because this has to be the best one on earth=))). Thank you so much for this delicious recipe.
Love it. 🙂
I have had this recipe bookmarked forever and finally got around to making it today. It is so good! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
This tastes like oatmeal raisin cookies in granola form to me! But of course it’s healthier, right? — so I can eat it with no shame 😉 I used honey instead of syrup and only about 3/4 the amount. Delicious recipe!
I’m allergic to coconut. What other oil would you suggest?