There is only one basic granola recipe you need to remember. Master this and you can mix and match your favourite ingredients for countless homemade granola possibilities!
(A fan of grab-and-go breakfast that’s also good for you? You’d love these Healthy Superfood Breakfast Cookies!)
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 you need to remember
The magic formula is this: 1 cup wet ingredients to 6 cups dry ingredients. That’s it!
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.
(Try making homemade chewy granola bars too!)
What to use to sweeten granola
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.
Related: Soft and Chewy Cookie Butter Blondies
Do you put oil in granola?
In case you’re wondering if you need to add oil to your homemade granola, the answer is yes. Otherwise, you would end up with a very dry batch.
I always put olive oil. Tastes great too.
Tips for success
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
– 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!) like cranberries, blueberries or fig, 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.
– 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?
, 
or 
, 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.
. But you can put 
, 
, whatever you think would complement the rest of your ingredients.Granola variations
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.
Related: The Ultimate List of Breakfast Ideas
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 or Twitter.
Basic Granola Recipe
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients:
- ⅓ cup honey
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- egg whites from 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- peanut butter to round off your 1 cup see notes
Dry Ingredients:
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup almonds
- ¾ cup walnuts I don’t bother to chop the nuts
- cinnamon to taste (see notes)
- salt to taste
- ¼ cup chia seeds
- ¼ cup dried cranberry
- ¼ cup dried apricot chopped
- ¼ cup dried fig chopped
- ¼ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 300F. Prep a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper. Set aside.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Video
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.
- Because the recipe doesn’t have to be exact, I did not provide weight equivalents for the ingredients.
- Seasoning doesn’t count as part of your dry ingredients.
- Like I mentioned in the post, this is just one of the many variations you can make. Go and experiment with your favourite ingredients.
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only.
(Recipe adapted from Epicurious)
Nicolas
Looks good and super easy I will try it this weekend, thanks for sharing 🙂
Subhadrika
this makes the perfect breakfast for me. i love eating granola. Till date i have eaten it only from outside but i would love to make my own by adding my own little touch to it.
Jolina
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!
Sarah
Looks so delicious!!
Nicole Escat
Wow, I love granola bars! This sounds like a delicious recipe, I am so excited to make some.
Jolina
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 🙂
Terri
I can’t wait to make your basic recipe and see what all I can use it in. I’ve become such a huge fan of granola this past year.
Jolina
Granola is pretty awesome! I’m excited for you and your granola experiments. Have fun!
Carrie
Yummy! This is such a simple recipe! I am definitely going to save this! 🙂
Robin
Definitely will give this a try.. Better than store bought
Chelley
This sounds like a great granola recipe! We actually have BAGS of rolled oats right now, so I think I’ll put one to good use.
Jolina
It’s a sign! There’s granola in your future 🙂 Thanks Chelley! Hope you like it!
Maria
I bet this is so much cheaper than the stuff I buy at the store. I really love it in yogurt in the am.
Jolina
Hi Maria! My favourite way to eat it is just straight from the jar haha. It’s replaced my potato chips i fact!
Neely Moldovan
I love making granola! This sounds amazing! Must try!
Jolina
Oh me too! I love thinking of what good stuff I’m mixing together next 🙂 Thanks Neely!
Liz Mays
Oh I didn’t know about the difference in oats. That’s a good tip because we usually buy quick oats. This is a great recipe.
Jolina
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! 🙂
Liz
Knowing the magic ratio makes it all so much simpler. I can’t wait to play around!
Susan
This looks scrumptious. One question–can you use coconut oil rather than olive oil? Or will it get clumpy once it gets back to room temperature?
Jolina
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.
Val
I don’t care for most granola because it has nuts. I’ve never tried making my own but this seems straightforward enough.
Jolina
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.
Dawn @ Girl Heart Food
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!
Jolina
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!