Homemade Granola Recipe (2024)

Granola Ingredients

This is a pretty standard formula that is easy to follow and easy to customize to what you are craving. It makes the best granola recipe.

• Old Fashioned Oats: Make sure you buy old fashioned oats not quick cooking, read more on this below.
• Honey: Not only does this bring some sweetness to the recipes, it also helpshold the granola together.
• Vegetable Oil: This is what helps crisp up the granola as it bakes and gives it that great crunch.See the note in the recipe card about lessening the oil. I haven’t tried this with other oils, but given the low cooking temperature here, they should work fine.
• Nuts: These help add protein to the granola and you can use so many different varieties. I prefer pecans or almonds. If you are serving someone with a nut allergy, consider swapping these to seeds like pumpkin or sunflower.
• Dried Fruit: Add this after baking. Raisins, dried cranberries, and dried pineapple are all great choices!
• Seasonings: For added flavor, I like to add cinnamon and vanilla extract. You could try other great flavor combinations though, like a little less cinnamon mixed with a pinch of ginger and allspice! Or swapping the vanilla for almond extract.

How to Make Granola

This is a brief overview on how to make this delicious and easy granola recipe. For the full recipe with all of the ingredients, see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

1. Combine the wet ingredients with the seasonings. Mix the sugar, oil, honey, cinnamon, and vanilla together.
2. Add in the dry ingredients. Fold in the oats and whatever nuts you’ve chosen.
3. Bake the granola. As mentioned in the recipe card, watch the granola closely after flipping it half way through. The timing in the recipe card is perfect for my oven, but oven temperatures can vary greatly.
4. Let it cool. After baking, you let the granola cool for an hour at room temperature.
5. Finish it off. The granola will be in large chunks from baking. So break it apart and then stir in the dried fruit.

Granola Variations and Substitutions

There are so many great things that you can do with granola and so many flavor combinations that you can bring in.

• Swap the honey. You can replace the honey with agave nectar or maple syrup.
• Reduce or swap the oil. Instead of vegetable oil, you can use grape seed or coconut oil. Again see the note in the recipe card about cutting back on the oil.
• Swap out the pecans for other nuts. Use the one you like the most! Peanuts, cashews, pistachios, and walnut slices all are great options for granola.
• Trade out half the nuts for seeds. I like adding pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds to my granola.
• Replace the dried cranberries. Any dried fruit would be fantastic in this. Raisins, dried pineapple, dried cherries, and dried apricots would all be delicious.
• Add in some chocolate. Leave out half of the fruit and after the granola has completely cooled, throw in half a cup of mini chocolate chips for an extra special granola.

Pumpkin Spice Granola

This Pumpkin Spice Granola is absolutely delicious! It tastes just like pumpkin spice and is impossible to stop eating.

How much does this granola recipe make?

This recipe makes 9 cups of granola.

Is granola gluten-free?

Yes! This is a great gluten free recipe. Ensure that you are buying gluten free oats, as that is the one ingredient in this that could contain gluten.

Is granola good for you?

Is granola vegan?

Yes! This is a great recipe for those following a vegan diet. If you are serving this to someone who is a strict vegan, you will want to swap the honey for maple syrup or agave.

4.91 from 22 votes

Serves: 18 servings

(tap # to scale)

print pin it rate

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

Nutrition Information

I’d love to see what you made! Tag me @lisasimplejoy and hashtag it #simplejoyrecipes!