Easy Homemade Granola {Crunchy}

Best, easy homemade granola recipe with simple ingredients from scratch. This tastes better than store-bought! Sweet, chunky, crunchy, crispy with nuts, dried fruits, chocolate chips and maple syrup.

*This post is sponsored by the New Oikos Oh! Double Cream Yogurt. As always, the content and opinions expressed here are my own.*

I love starting off the day with this, especially on top of yogurt. This is always in my breakfast rotations along with these Breakfast Cookies, Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding and Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding. These would also be a great addition to my Breakfast in Bed Ideas, especially for Mother's Day.

Jump to:

• Key ingredients
• Variations
• How to make easy crunchy homemade granola recipe from scratch?
• Granola add-ins
• How to serve this?
• Tips and techniques
• Recipe FAQs
• Storage
• More breakfast ideas
• Recipe

Key ingredients

Variations

• Get creative with spices and extracts- The sky is the limit here. Some popular choices are vanilla and cinnamon but you can also add a little almond extract, mint extract, pumpkin pie spice, chai tea spices, espresso powder, cocoa powder or even lemon and orange zests.
• Toss some add-ins at the end- Some add-ins such as chocolate chips and dried fruit should be mixed in at the end when everything has cooled down to prevent burning and melting during baking.
• Make it gluten-free- By using certified gluten free oats.
• ADD MORE...

How to make easy crunchy homemade granola recipe from scratch?

1. Mix together maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla.
2. Add oats, nuts, cinnamon.
3. Spread mixture in a tray.
4. Bake and cool.
5. Mix in chocolate and dried fruits and you are done.

Granola add-ins

• Chocolate chips- Use a combination of semisweet, dark, milk or white.
• Nuts- Such as roughly chopped almonds, walnuts, pistachios, pecans, cashews, hazelnuts.
• Dried fruits- Such as dried pineapples, cranberries, raisins, papaya, cherries, dates.
• Syrups- Honey, maple syrup or agave syrup.
• Seeds- Chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds.
• Shredded coconut- Sweetened or unsweetened both work fine.
• Extracts- Such as vanilla, almond, mint e.t.c.

How to serve this?

Eat it instead of cereal in a bowl of milk. Use it as a topping in Yogurt Parfait, which is my favorite way to eat it. Use it as a crunchy topping in Fruit Salads or even green salads. You can even enjoy it on its own as a snack. Use it as a topping for muffins, before baking. They are incredible on my Banana Muffins and Applesauce Muffins. Toss it in your favorite trail mix. You can even it toss it on top of your smoothie bowls and ice creams.

Tips and techniques

• What kinds of oats to use for granola? Old-fashioned oats or rolled oats are best. They are hearty and have a great crispy, chewy texture. Don't use quick-cooking oats because the results are just not the same.
• Honey substitution- This is the glue that holds everything together. Agave nectar ands maple syrup work well too.
• Coconut oil substitution- You can use canola or vegetable oil.
• Even baking is important- This can be accomplished by mixing everything together, halfway through baking and spreading everything as evenly as possible in the baking tray, prior to baking, the oats out onto the prepared baking sheet. All of this allows everything to bake more evenly and prevents burning.
• Why does granola feel wet? You will notice it feels a little moist when you remove it from the oven but it dries and becomes hard, as it cools.

Recipe FAQs

Storage

• Leftovers can be stored in sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 month or at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. 
• cannot be frozen... can become soggy upon thawing.
• make ahead- 1-2 days in advance.

More breakfast ideas

• Easy Homemade Cinnamon Rolls (1 Hour)
• Pancake Muffins (Fluffy)
• Caramel Pecan Sticky Buns
• Easy Homemade Granola Bars (No Bake)
• Date Bars or Squares (No Bake)

Lately, I have been loving these new Oikos Oh! Double Cream Yogurts. This yogurt is incredibly thick, luscious and creamy. My favorite is the the Salt-Dusted Caramel Crème. These yogurts are great on their own but sometimes, I toss my granola or some berries on top. It makes me feel all fancy and special.

Recipe