The Unlikely Baker

Easy and Delicious Recipes for the Home Baker!

The Only Basic Granola Recipe You Need

By 64 Comments

There is only 1 basic granola recipe you need to remember. Master this and you can mix and match your favourite ingredients for countless homemade granola possibilities!

Basic Granola Recipe

When I learned how to bake, I realized that I can make at home a lot of the stuff we purchase at the store. And that homemade is way better tasting than ready-made. For example, we don’t buy these things anymore; I just make them!

I’m adding granola to that list. We haven’t bought granola (or cereal!) in a very long time. And what’s great is that this is almost a non-recipe. It’s a simple basic formula that is fully customizable so that you can make perfect granola each time.

One basic granola recipe

The magic formula is this: 1 cup wet ingredients to 6 cups dry ingredients. There’s this great video on Epicurious where they explain that it doesn’t even have to be actual measuring cups. It can be a bowl, a coffee mug, whatever. Just whatever you use, the magic number is 1:6.

[clickToTweet tweet=”One recipe, countless delicious possibilities! The only granola recipe you will ever need >> ” quote=”One recipe, countless delicious possibilities! The only granola recipe you will ever need.”]

How sweet it is

To sweeten my granola, I usually stick with honey or agave syrup though a lot of times I put peanut butter too (I am so tempted to put Nutella or cookie butter – maybe someday I will!). I know a lot of you are into almond butter and I’m sure that will work too.

To oil or not to oil

Say yes to oil. Otherwise, you would end up with a very dry granola. To keep it healthy, I always put olive oil. Tastes great too.

Tips for success

Basic Granola Recipe

I’ve tried and tested this basic granola recipe countless times with different ingredients. And while I encourage you to go crazy and creative, here are my guidelines for a fantastic batch of granola every time:

  • Use rolled oats (see the sample below) – not quick-cooking oats – as your base. Quick-cooking oats would brown quicker than the rest of your ingredients. We don’t want burnt granola, yes?
  • Don’t use less than 3 cups of rolled oats. I tried more and less and 3 was the magic number for me.
  • If you’re using dried fruit (and you should!), don’t bake them. Add them after you remove the baking sheet from the oven while the granola is still warm. Otherwise, they would turn really tough and hard.
  • If you’re using chocolate chips (and again, highly recommended!), add them once the granola is cool. If you add them when the granola is still warm they will melt and disappear (unless melted chocolate is the goal? Then go for it!)
  • Add an egg white. I tried batches without (there are times when I don’t have extra and I didn’t want to waste an egg yolk) and while it did not affect the taste, the granola turned out less crispy, looser and just overall less shiny.
  • Remember to spice things up! I usually just add salt, sometimes cinnamon. But you can put cardamom, nutmeg, whatever you think would complement the rest of your ingredients.

Granola experiments

Basic Granola Recipe

I love granola experiments (the recipe I share here is just one of the combinations I use). You put in your favourite things so what comes out is your favourite granola. We sprinkle it over yogurt, drench it in milk, snack on it like popcorn.

So go and experiment! Find what your favourite granola combo is and never buy ready-made granola again.

Print
Basic Granola Recipe

Basic Granola Recipe

One basic granola recipe, countless delicious granola possibilities! This is the only granola recipe you will ever need.

Ingredients

    Wet Ingredients:
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1 egg white
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • Peanut butter to round off your 1 cup (see notes)
    Dry Ingredients:
  • 3 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup almonds
  • 3/4 cup walnuts (I don't bother to chop the nuts)
  • Cinnamon, to taste (see notes)
  • Salt, to taste
  • 1/4 cup chia seeds
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberry
  • 1/4 cup chopped dried apricot
  • 1/4 cup chopped dried fig
  • 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 300F. Prep a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk all your wet ingredients together. Add your rolled oats and nuts and stir until everything is evenly coated. Add seasoning and give the mixture a final stir.
  3. Transfer and spread evenly on your baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, then stir to ensure everything is baking evenly. Bake for another 15 minutes and stir again. Finally bake for another 10-15 minutes until crisp and golden brown.
  4. Take out of the oven and add the rest of your ingredients. Stir and allow to cool completely before adding your chocolate chips, if using. Transfer to an airtight container.

Notes

When measuring your wet ingredients, you don't even have to be exact. Sometimes I just take a measuring cup, put my wet ingredients in and stop when I reach 1 cup.

Seasoning doesn't count as part of your dry ingredients.

https://theunlikelybaker.com/basic-granola-recipe/

(Recipe adapted from Epicurious)

Happy baking!

Did you take this basic granola recipe for a test run? Tell me about it in the comments section below. I’d love to hear all about it. What’s your favourite combination?

And let’s get social! Find me on Facebook,  Pinterest,  Instagram,  Twitter,  Google+  and  Flipboard. Or subscribe so you don’t miss a recipe. I promise I don’t spam (I hate spam too).

Do you want to improve your food photography, monetize your blog or start your very own food blog? Check out the awesome resources at the bottom of this page.


 

Reader Interactions

Comments

    • Nice! Making homemade granola might just change your life lol! Hope you have great success the recipe, would love to hear how it goes.

      Reply

  11. I haven’t made any granola at home, but we buy it a lot, as my husband and daughter are huge fans of granola. I’ll have to try out your recipe for sure – to keep our granola healthy and save some money too!

    Reply

    • Hi Ave! You can make it a family activity too. Or make a specific granola for each person of the family! You’ll have lots of fun 🙂

      Reply

    • You are most welcome Rose! I think we should all be crazy and creative haha! And I absolutely agree: that is the best way to explore food and different cuisines 🙂

      Reply

    • Hi Megan! This recipe is for loose granola actually, I haven’t quite perfected making them into bars haha. Soon on the blog, perhaps. It’s still pretty awesome!

      Reply

  17. I love learning new recipes especially the ones that we enjoy as a family. It’s more affordable when you choose to do things at home. I love making my own granola as well! This is a pretty awesome recipe!

    Reply

  20. Sounds like something I will like to try out by myself, delicious by looks and am hoping its same by taste. Hahaha, greatnfun read.

    Reply

    • Once you’ve made your first batch you’ll want to try more! That’s what happened to me…I can’t wait to try different versions haha. Thank Subhadrika!

      Reply

    • Hi Nicole! These are actually loose granola…I haven’t figured out how to make them stick together as bars yet lol. If you do let me know 🙂

      Reply

    • Thanks Liz! Rolled oats are bigger too so you get a “meatier” granola. I’m excited for all the different kinds of granola in your future! 🙂

      Reply

    • Hi Susan! I haven’t tried it but I think you absolutely can. I use olive oil mostly because it’s what we have but I think any oil would do and coconut is definitely healthy. If your coconut oil is the creamy kind you’d need to warm it up first to make it spreadable. Would love to hear how your granola experiment goes.

      Reply

    • That’s the beauty of homemade! You can make a totally nut-free version 🙂 and yes this it can’t get more straightforward than this.

      Reply

  37. Oh, I love this! I totally agree that homemade is better than store bought. So true and I love how you can control the quantities and know exactly every single ingredient that goes into what you are making. Great ratio tip. Definitely keep that in mind!

    I’m totally with ya with chocolate in granola and I do think that Nutella would be a delicious ingredient in there. Nutella makes everything better, lol 😀 Pinning this one and would love to try this weekend!

    Reply

    • Thanks for the pin Dawn! And yes on the Nutella! The only thing that’s stopping me is I’m not sure if Nutella is classified as healthy so that might defeat my healthy granola lol but what the heck I’ll do it anyway one of these days! Hope you have much success with the magic ratio!

      Reply

Trackbacks

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *