How to Make Homemade Granola: Healthy, Easy Recipe and Customizable Ingredients

For my family, the days of buying granola from the supermarket ended the moment I first made it at home. Honestly, I don’t see the point in buying it when homemade granola is so easy and quick to make, and it tastes better. Not to mention the quality of the ingredients.

Why You Should Make Homemade Granola Instead of Buying It

It’s very easy! Seriously, it is. And quick: half an hour plus waiting for it to cool down.

You can choose your favorite ingredients so that the granola contains only what you and your loved ones enjoy.

Low sugar content. And it’s controlled. Instead of refined sugar, we add honey or maple syrup, which is a healthier alternative to white sugar.

Quality of ingredients. When cooking for yourself and your loved ones, you obviously won’t add palm oil, any chemical preservatives, or excessive amounts of sugar to your granola.

Room for creativity. You can experiment with the ingredients and flavors endlessly. Below, I’ll explain how to select the combinations of products to achieve a balanced mix.

(This paragraph contains a bit of economic reasoning, feel free to skip it)
Honestly, I haven’t calculated the economic benefit, but considering the prices of the ingredients that go into granola, I understand that high-quality granola cannot be cheap. And if you find granola with a good ingredient list (like the one you’d make at home), it will definitely be more expensive than your homemade version, because its price also includes many additional costs for the manufacturer (labor costs, premises rent, packaging, utilities, taxes, etc.).

Alright, if you’re reading these lines now, you’re probably already on the bright side and know why homemade granola is better than store-bought, so let’s move on to the recipe. Or rather, to the constructor.

Granola Constructor. How to Create Your Ideal Granola?

At first glance, the variety of granola ingredients can seem overwhelming: so many different components, how can I combine them, in what proportions, to make it tasty, beautiful, and nutritious? But in reality, a homemade granola recipe is a simple construction consisting of several parts (product groups). Take 1–2 ingredients from each group and mix them in fairly free proportions. There are just a couple of points to keep in mind to make the granola perfect, but more on that later.

Oats. The base of the granola and its largest part. Use regular old-fashioned oats. Don’t use quick oats, as they don’t hold their shape well during baking and don’t look as good.

Nuts. This is the nutritious part, full of beneficial substances. Almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, cashews, walnuts. Any kind really, even pine nuts. Pistachios look cool, especially if they are bright green.

Seeds. Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and my special love – flax seeds. They add texture, nutrients, and very valuable fiber. (You might ask, why do I love flax? Because it has no taste, but has immense benefits).

Dried fruits. Raisins, dried apricots, cranberries, goji berries, coconut flakes. Dried fruits add sweetness, flavor, and vitamins to granola.

Sweet syrup. Honey, maple syrup, or agave syrup makes the granola sweet, slightly binding the ingredients together and giving them a caramel color during baking.

Fats. Oil helps the ingredients bake evenly and makes them crispier. Coconut oil is my favorite, as it has a delicate, slightly sweet flavor. Olive oil also works, but it has a stronger aroma that not everyone likes.

Additional flavors: Vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, or ginger add aroma and flavor.

Chocolate. I put this as a separate point. You can add chocolate drops instead of nuts or seeds, or along with them. Add some chocolate at the beginning of making the granola and some at the end. This way, some of the chocolate melts and covers some oats, while some chocolate drops remain crunchy. If you are making granola with chocolate, you can reduce the amount of sweet syrup (maple or honey) or remove it at all.

The important quantities in the proportion below are the oats, sweet syrup, and oil. Stick to the given amounts.

But you can play around with all the other ingredients as you like. More of one thing, less of another, in various proportions. The given amounts for nuts, seeds, and dried fruits are just guidelines.

How to Make Granola at Home:

1. Preheat the oven to 160ºC.
2. Melt the coconut oil.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the oats, nuts, seeds, and salt (and part of the chocolate if you’re adding it).
4. Add the honey or maple syrup to the coconut oil.
5. Combine the liquid ingredients with the dry ones, mixing well so that all the dry ingredients are coated with the liquids.
6. Spread the granola in an even layer on a baking sheet or large baking pan.
7. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring the mixture well every 10 minutes to ensure even baking.
8. Remove the baking sheet (pan) from the oven and let the granola cool.
9. Add dried fruits (and/or the second part of the chocolate) and mix well. Transfer the granola to an airtight container.
10. Store the finished granola in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.

Homemade granola tastes great with yogurt and fruit, in smoothie bowls (in the photo, I have a smoothie made from acai berries and banana), with milk, with ice cream.

If you try this recipe, I’d love to hear how it turned out! Share your experience or any creative twists you made in the comments below. Let me know if you have any questions. Your feedback helps me create even more delicious content. Enjoy your homemade treat and happy baking!