I can think of few things more lovely than the smell of homemade granola in the oven. Well, except maybe that comforting feeling of eating granola first thing in the morning, either with yogurt, cereal, or on its own. Both are absolute delights.
If you are new to the kitchen, I highly recommend you start out your kitchen exploration with this healthy homemade granola. It’s easy, delicious, and sure to impress your friends. Each time you reach for the granola jar, you feel satisfied that you made something so wonderful on your own. Plus, granola is stupid expensive when you buy it from the grocery store, but totally affordable to make on your own. That’s reason enough.
However, you have to be careful about granola. It is usually touted as a health food, but have you looked at how much sugar is in granola? I had a granola recipe that I’ve been using for the past couple years, but one day it struck me how much sugar I was coating everything in. So I decided to experiment and try to reduce the sugar in the recipe. The old recipe had 3/4 cup brown sugar, while this healthy homemade granola has only 2 tablespoons of brown sugar (plus 2 tablespoons of maple syrup). Big difference! Don’t fear, it is still plenty sweet though…especially when you throw some chocolate chips on top!
But it gets even better! This granola is a great way to sneak in good-for-you seeds and nuts. I bought a bag of flax seeds a little while back, but was at a complete loss for where to use them. My solution? Throw them into the granola. My favorite seedy, nutty granola additions are:
- Walnuts
- Almonds
- Cashews
- Pumpkin seeds/pepitas
- Sunflower Seeds
- Pistachios
- Flax seeds
- Chia seeds
- Cacao nibs
Use as many or as few of these as you please. Other mix-ins include dried fruit or coconut (add during the last 10 minutes of baking) or of course, chocolate chips (add in once the cooked granola has cooled).
Enjoy customizing your own granola! Let me know what your favorite additions are.
- 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp. water
- 2 Tbsp. maple syrup (or honey)
- 1 Tbsp. coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 3 cups old fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup to 1 cup assorted nuts and seeds (adjust as needed)
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- Preheat oven to 300F.
- Combine brown sugar and water in a microwaveable dish. Microwave for 20 seconds.
- Stir maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla into the brown sugar mixture. (You may need to microwave for another 15-20 seconds if the coconut oil is solid).
- In a large bowl, toss together oats, nuts & seeds, and salt.
- Pour sugar mixture into the large bowl over the oats & nuts. Toss to combine.
- Spread granola into an even layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 40-55 minutes until granola begins to brown slightly.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Break granola into chunks. Let cool completely before storing.