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

• Oats- Make sure they are the old fashioned kind for the best overall texture.
• Nuts- This includes almonds, pecans, peanuts, and cashews.
• Dried fruit- I like to use raisins, dried cranberries, dried papaya, dried pineapple, as well as dried cherries.
• Maple syrup- This adds a subtle sweetness and helps the ingredients stick to each other a little.
• Coconut oil- This helps with texture, browning, and flavor.
• Vanilla extract- Not only adds warmth, but brings out the flavor of surrounding ingredients.
• Cinnamon powder- Brings in a nice, cozy, warm baked flavor I just adore.
• Chocolate chips- This just adds a nice bit of sweetness to the batch.

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. You can also try my gluten free Easy Black Bean Brownies.
• Use other kinds of chocolate chips: Such as semi-sweet, dark, or white. You can even do a mixture of several together.
• Try other nuts- You can do the same combination I used or a conglomeration of your own. Bring in your favorites, add more or less, just have fun with it.
• Flavored dried cherries- A local store sells dried cherries that are flavored with lemon and lime, raspberry, peach, and orange flavors. They are delicious and it makes things fun and, for me, guilt-free sweet. You can also find them on Amazon. You can also use the regular dried cherries like I use in my Italian Almond Cookies (Ricciarelli).

How to make easy crunchy homemade granola recipe from scratch?

1. Mix together- Maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla.
2. Add in- Oats, nuts, and cinnamon.
3. Spread mixture- In a tray.
4. Bake- Until done and allow to cool.
5. Mix in- Chocolate and dried fruits.

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 an Acai Bowl or 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 chopped fruit, your smoothie bowls, and ice creams.

Tips and techniques

• 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.
• Don't use quick oats- It is important to the overall texture and balance of this recipe.
• Toss halfway through cooking- Because this encourage even baking throughout.
• Careful not to over-bake- Because then it becomes a darker color and overly crunchy.
• Cool completely- To allow it to dry and get crunchy before eating.

Recipe FAQs

Storage

• Refrigerate- Leftovers can be stored in sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 month.
• Freeze- This cannot be frozen, because it can become soggy upon thawing.
• Make ahead- This can easily be made 1-2 days in advance. Just keep in a sealed container in the fridge until ready to eat.
• Room temperature- This lasts for up to 2 weeks on the counter. I recommend putting in a container or baggie.

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