Healthy Homemade Granola Recipe

This granola is the perfect sweet and chewy blend and is so simple to put together with just 5 simple ingredients. 

I’m sure everyone thinks the have the best granola recipe, but this one truly is the best. This granola is just the right amount of sweet from the honey and coconut oil, slightly sticky with clumps of oats and nuts without being too dried and crunchy. It is literally the easiest base recipe that you can use to customize the perfect granola recipe for your family.

We absolutely love granola around here. I don’t know about your home, but in mine, children are always hungry and looking for a snack.

Granola is one of my favorite, cheap, healthy foods to have on hand for quick breakfasts or easy snacks and it is one of those foods that once you have made at home you will never want to buy in the store again. Delicious granola is perfect on top of greek yogurt, as cereal with a splash of milk, or on its own for breakfast or a snack.

Simple ingredients

Store-bought granola is often filled with unnecessary sugars and fillers, which means that when you make it yourself, you will know exactly what is in it.

Homemade granola really is so simple to make with just a few simple dry ingredients. All of these ingredients are things that I like to keep stocked in my pantry. You can check out this blog post to find my full list of pantry staples and a free printable list.

I also love this recipe because it is so easy recipe to customize to your family’s taste preferences and the ingredients you have on hand. 

So what exactly do you need for this healthy granola recipe?

Oats – Oats are, of course, the foundation of this recipe. I prefer to use the regular rolled oats, but you can easily use your favorite kind. 

Honey – Natural sweeteners are my preferred method of sweetening baked goods and I love the texture and flavor of honey in granola. Real maple syrup would also work well.

Coconut oil – I avoid vegetable oil in our home and instead use coconut oil and olive oil. Coconut oil works well in this recipe and adds a nice hint of coconut.

Cinnamon – Adds a nice little warm spice to the granola. 

Salt – Just a pinch of salt for added flavor and helps make the sweet elements pop.

Vanilla extract – Again, just adds a little flavor.

Seeds and nuts – These are totally optional, but pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, slivered almonds, pecans, flax seeds and chia seeds are all excellent choices for granola.

Dried fruit – Again totally optional, but dried cranberries, cherries, raisins, and unsweetened coconut flakes all make excellent additions to homemade granola. 

Chocolate chips – These are a great add-in if you have kids in your home or just want a pop of sweet. 

How to make homemade granola

The first thing you’ll want to do to make homemade granola is to measure out your dry ingredients into a large bowl. You want a total of eight cups of dry ingredients, but you can easily do more oats depending on how many different ingredients you want to add. I always do at least five cups of oats and then three cups of additional nuts, seeds, and dried fruit.

After you prep the dry ingredients. Combine the coconut oil and honey in a small saucepan on the stove top over medium heat. You will want to melt the coconut oil and bring the mixture to a low boil.

Remove the liquid mixture from the heat and add cinnamon and salt. Pour over the oat mixture and stir very well. You want the wet ingredients to be well incorporated. 

Next, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with a non-stick spray. Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before handling. 

Once the granola cools, you can gently break it up into chunks. You should have some bigger chunks and some smaller pieces too. 

How to store granola

Granola will keep for several weeks in an airtight container. I love to put mine in a large glass jar with a lid and then dip out of it for cereal, plain eating, or topping yogurt and smoothie bowls. 

You could also store it in the freezer for longer storage.

How to serve granola

There are several different ways that you could serve homemade granola. 

Wholesome snacks – Granola is a great snack on its own.

Yogurt parfait – Homemade granola on top of yogurt with fresh fruit is a favorite way to eat granola. It is so filling and delicious.

Cereal – Granola also makes a wonderful cereal with just a little milk poured over top. You could even add some fresh berries for some extra nutrition and flavor.

Ice cream – I have not tried this, but I hear good things about plain granola on ice cream.

I hope this easy granola recipe will inspire you to try making your own granola at home. It really is so simple to whip up and makes for the easies snacks and breakfasts. 

If you’re looking for other easy breakfast ideas, check out my favorite bakery-style blueberry muffins or these applesauce muffins.