Homemade Granola Recipe

In our household, we love making homemade granola. We enjoy the variety of ingredients and different items you can add to make each batch unique and change the taste and texture. We like to add it on top of Greek yogurt, eat it as a cereal, make homemade granola bars, add it to a recipe such as apple crisp or a crumble topping for a pie, or eat it just by itself as a snack.

Growing up, my mom used to make homemade granola. I loved waking up to the smell of freshly baked granola that we added to our yogurt or cereal. Homemade granola is a great gift. We like gifting it in mason jars with twine wrapped around and a tag that says, “From my kitchen to yours.”

This recipe makes about 6 cups or three pints of homemade granola. For a gluten-free recipe, use certified gluten-free oats.

The spices we used in this recipe were cinnamon, ground ginger, and sea salt. You can also use clover, cardamom, allspice, coriander, and turmeric. For a savory spicy recipe, use chili powder, cayenne pepper, and smoked paprika.

We used sunflower seeds and flaxseeds in this batch of homemade granola; however, raw pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, or chia seeds can also be a great addition. For dried fruit, we used raisins and chopped dates. Other dried fruit we recommend for granola are dried blueberries, coconut, mangos, cherries, bananas, papaya, and figs.

Instructions:

Preheat oven for 325 degrees. In a large bowl, mix oats, nuts, and seeds. In a small bowl, mix oil, honey or syrup, vanilla extract, and spices. If using coconut oil, microwave for 1 minute or melt in a saucepan with honey or syrup until combined. Add the ingredients from the small bowl to large bowl. Spray the baking pan or use parchment paper for an easy cleanup and prevent the granola from sticking to the pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Stir the pan halfway through.