The Very Best Granola
This delicious healthy granola recipe is the best! It's naturally sweetened with maple syrup (or honey). Just add oats, coconut oil, nuts and dried fruit.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 29, 2024
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Do you love granola? Me, too! Today, I’m sharing my “basic” granola recipe, which is also the best granola recipe. Granted, I’m partial, but it really is the best and I use that term sparingly. Over two hundred five-star reviews agree!
In fact, I love this recipe so much that I shared it in my cookbook, Love Real Food. This granola makes a wonderful snack or breakfast (add your milk of choice and maybe some fresh fruit). It also stores beautifully, so it makes a great homemade gift.
Once you try homemade granola, you won’t go back to store-bought granola. It’s so much better!
This granola recipe is also a far more healthy granola option, since it’s made with whole grains, unrefined oil and naturally sweetened. You just can’t beat freshly baked granola packed with delicious and good-for-you ingredients.
Plus, homemade granola is super easy to make. You’ll only need one bowl and some basic pantry ingredients. Ready to make some?
Watch How to Make Healthy Granola
Now that you have my base recipe, you can play around with the mix-ins and spices to make it your favorite granola.
By the way, you can preserve that freshly baked flavor by storing this granola in the freezer. Just let it warm to room temperature for a few minutes, and enjoy.
Healthy Granola Ingredients
Oats
Heart-healthy, hearty, whole-grain old-fashioned oats keep their shape during baking. Be sure to use certified gluten-free oats if you need gluten-free granola.
Nuts and/or Seeds
I used pecans and pepitas (green pumpkin seeds) to make this batch. Other options include walnuts, which are rich in Omega-3s, whole or slivered almonds, cashews, peanuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts and sunflower seeds.
Unrefined Oil
Oil helps make this granola crisp and irresistible. I prefer unrefined coconut oil, which is delicious (you can barely taste the coconut, if at all) and produces the perfect texture.
You can use extra-virgin olive oil instead, if you’d like your granola to be a little more on the savory side. If you’re watching your saturated fat intake, olive oil is a better choice!
Natural Sweetener
I love using real maple syrup in my granola. Honey works great, too. As a bonus, these natural sweeteners infuse your granola extra-delicious flavor that sugar would not.
Salt and Spice
For flavorful granola, don’t skip the salt! Too little and your flavors won’t sing. I prefer using fine-grain sea salt in this one (I always cook with fine-grain sea salt), but regular salt will do, too (just use a little less).
I added cinnamon to this batch for some subtle warming spice. Ground ginger (use half as much) and pumpkin spice blends are other options.
Dried Fruit
Dried fruit lends some extra sweetness, chewy texture and irresistible fruity flavor. I used dried cranberries for this batch. I also love tart dried cherries, raisins and chopped dried apricots.
Optional Mix-Ins
For fresh citrus flavor, stir fresh citrus zest (up to 2 teaspoons) into the mixture before baking. I love adding orange zest, in particular.
You can add chocolate chips after the granola has completely cooled (otherwise, they’ll melt).
If you’d like to add unsweetened coconut flakes, you can add it halfway through baking for perfectly toasted results (see recipe note).
Chunky Granola Tips
Some of you, like me, love big clumps in your granola. Here are my tips to achieving the best clumps:
- Your oats need to be a little crowded in the pan so they can stick together, but not so crowded that they don’t toast evenly. I recommend using a basic half sheet pan (affiliate link) for this granola recipe. It’s the perfect size and the rimmed edges make sure no granola falls overboard.
- Be sure to line the pan with parchment paper so the sweetener sticks to your oats rather than the pan.
- For maximum clumps, gently press down on the granola with the back of a spatula after stirring the mixture at the half-way baking point. Then put the pan back into the oven to finish baking.
- Don’t bake the granola too long—just until it’s lightly golden on top, as described. It might not seem like it’s done yet, but it will continue to crisp up as it cools. Over-baking the granola seems to break the sugar bonds.
- Lastly, let the granola cool completely before breaking it up. I’ve even left it on the pan overnight, covered.
Even with all those techniques in place, I occasionally end up with a batch of granola that isn’t as clumpy as my others, for reasons that I can’t explain. It’s always delicious, though!
Granola Variations
This recipe is my favorite, go-to granola recipe. Over the years, I’ve played around with it to create a bunch of fun variations. Here they are for inspiration:
- Orange and Almond Granola: This recipe includes orange zest (2 teaspoons), whole almonds and golden raisins.
- Triple Coconut Granola: This recipe calls for coconut oil, large coconut flakes and shredded coconut.
- Cranberry Orange Granola: This recipe is quite similar to this one, but a little sweeter and full of vibrant orange flavor.
- Honey Almond Granola: Just what it sounds like, plus chopped dried apricots! Delightful.
- Gingerbread Granola: This granola includes molasses and extra warming spices, plus coconut flakes, dried cranberries and chopped candied ginger.
Please let me know how this recipe turns out for you in the comments! I love hearing from you and hope this granola recipe becomes your new favorite.
Healthy Granola
This delicious healthy granola recipe is naturally sweetened with maple syrup (or honey). It’s made with oats, coconut oil and your favorite nuts and fruit. Make it your own! Recipe yields about 8 cups granola, enough for about 16 half-cup servings.
Ingredients
- 4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (use certified gluten-free oats for gluten-free granola)
- 1 ½ cup raw nuts and/or seeds (I used 1 cup pecans and ½ cup pepitas)
- 1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt (if you’re using standard table salt, scale back to ¾ teaspoon)
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup melted coconut oil or olive oil
- ½ cup maple syrup or honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup dried fruit, chopped if large (I used dried cranberries)
- Totally optional additional mix-ins: ½ cup chocolate chips or coconut flakes*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, nuts and/or seeds, salt and cinnamon. Stir to blend.
- Pour in the oil, maple syrup and/or honey and vanilla. Mix well, until every oat and nut is lightly coated. Pour the granola onto your prepared pan and use a large spoon to spread it in an even layer.
- Bake until lightly golden, about 21 to 24 minutes, stirring halfway (for extra-clumpy granola, press the stirred granola down with your spatula to create a more even layer). The granola will further crisp up as it cools.
- Let the granola cool completely, undisturbed (at least 45 minutes). Top with the dried fruit (and optional chocolate chips, if using). Break the granola into pieces with your hands if you want to retain big chunks, or stir it around with a spoon if you don’t want extra-clumpy granola.
- Store the granola in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 to 2 weeks, or in a sealed freezer bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. The dried fruit can freeze solid, so let it warm to room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Recipe adapted Meg Gordan’s granola, which I’ve tweaked over the years.
Make it gluten free: Be sure to use certified gluten-free oats.
Make it nut free: Use seeds, like pepitas or sunflower seeds, instead of nuts.
*If you want toasted coconut in your granola: Stir the coconut flakes into the granola halfway through baking. They’ll get nice and toasty that way.
Serving suggestions: This granola is awesome on its own, with milk or yogurt and fresh fruit, and you can even throw a couple handfuls into a salad for granola “croutons.”
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Hi Kate,
Thanks for sharing this recipe! Just tried it for the first time, but I must’ve did something wrong. My granola didn’t clump and I baked it for 20 extra mins! Only thing I could think of is not using a large enough tray … I had a pretty sizable one on hand, a 16”x11” … any suggestions would be helpful.
Hi Ann, It will clump as it cools. If it’s over cooked it won’t clump. I hope that helps!
Delicious!
I couldn’t get mine to clump either, despite putting it down. (I did use butter instead of coconut oil, not sure if that made a difference.)
Oh well, it still tastes amazing!
Do you think avocado oil would be ok in this recipe?
Sure, it should be ok. Let me know how it turns out!
I just tried this recipe for the first time and with avocado oil. It turned out well!
Good recipe, I tweaked it a bit, I only put half of coconut oil and added half with peanut butter. Instead of craisins, i put chopped up dates. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Gisele!
Chopped dates are a great idea! I didn’t even think about that. I might be able to reduce some of the honey if I use dates, because no matter how badly we want honey to be healthy, it’s not. Thanks! I’m definitely trying that.
Hi Kate thos recipe is amazing! Any suggestions on how to turn into a granola bar?
I would suggest Easy No-Bake Granola Bars.
Do you know roughly how many calories would be in 1 cup?
Hi Georgia! The nutritional information is below the notes section. You will need to click “show nutrition” to see.
Our favorite granola! We make it every week and change up the mix ins and/or spices and it’s always the best! Thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome, Laura!
I just made my third batch. Two with the maple syrup and one with honey. Very yummy. I snack on it and use it on yogurt in the mornings. I would be curious to know what kind of saturated fat would be in this recipe.
We really enjoy this recipe! I have to share a discovery I made to tweak it a bit. We tried it with honey and with maple syrup. We preferred the way it clumps with honey, but we preferred the taste of the maple syrup. After some experimenting, I finally hit on the optimum solution: Measure one full cup of maple syrup, but boil it down to roughly ½ the volume (20 to 30 minutes) before adding it to the oatmeal. It worked perfectly!
I followed the recipe exactly and it’s perfect! Just the right amount of crunch and sweet. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Nancy!
I made 3 batches for a church project. It looks and tastes great. I added walnuts, pepitas, dried berries and coconut. I used 1//2honey, 1/2 syrup. Delicious!
Great to hear, Gal!
Truly the best and easiest granola recipe. Tastes better than shop bought and cheaper.I used avocado oil and honey. It’s very versatile so I’ll experiment with other oils, nuts and dried fruits. Doesn’t really affect the taste whether it clumps or not. Mine did but breaks up when you serve it and mix with yoghurt or milk anyway. Thank you for the recipe.
I love this recipe. How do I convert it to granola bars?
Hi Sheila, I would recommend my Easy No-Bake Granola Bars
We LOVE this recipe! So easy and we get lots of nice big Crunchy bits. So much healthier than store bought!
I’m glad you love it, Elaine!
Delicious!! Made the mistake of mixing in fruit & chips prior to baking. Turned out fine!! Made the mistake if NOT Reading the recipe from top to bottom before I started. Going to pan toast coconut & add that!! Used dried apricots, peaches, cranberries, pecans, chopped & sliced almonds!! Tossed in a handful of dark chocolate chips for the pièce de ré·sis·tance!!
I make your recipe all the time & love it. Change ingredients at times, depending on what I have. I don’t put dried cranberries anymore as it hardened too much but I could try adding it half way.
@Alicia you can add the dried fruit after baking it and just mix in when cooled, that’s what I did with my fruit and coconut.
Your recipe is amazing
A small recommendation – when making nut milk there are leftover of nut pulp that can be added to the recipe and later can be eaten with the nut milk
I’ve made the this a lot – thank you! But it always burns a little on the outside. Do you think I should lower the temperature or just shorten cooking time?
Hi Jenna, you can reduce your baking time. Some ovens do run hotter than others. I hope this helps!
What recipes adjustments would be needed to add 1/4 of almond butter?
I LOVE this recipes as is, just wanting to experiment with different flavors/textures.
That would require a new recipe, sorry! You can add it when you serve it.
I substituted 1/4 cup almond butter for 1/4th cup of the oil and it came out great.
I loved the taste! Very nice! I will NEVER BUY STORE GRANOLA again! Great recipe!
That’s great to hear, Wanda!
Hi Kate,
Love this granola recipe so much!! Making it on repeat
Thank you!!
You’re welcome, Rachel!
Loved this recipe! I added some cocoa powder for a double chocolate effect! It was great. I have some flax and chia seeds that I’m trying to use. Would you stir that in while cooking? Or after? —- Thank you, Robin
You’re welcome, Robin!
Just made your recipe and it turned out amazing! I used Himalayan sea salt and added sultanas with maple syrup. It turned out nice and crunchy and very tasteful. Thank you Kathryne
You’re welcome, Edi!
Just made it but I didn’t use any nuts or dried fruit. It’s amazing !!! I could eat this all day! Next time I would love to use some dried cranberries to add a little bit of a citrus note. I’m obsessed either way !!!!
That’s great to hear, Daelynne!
Great recipe! First time making granola and it turned out perfect. Very flavorful. Thank you!!
You’re welcome, Mary!
I love this recipe. I made a second batch today. In the first batch I added the dried cranberries. For the second batch, I added cranberries and dried mangoes. I would have preferred apricots, but they didn’t have any at the at the time, so I tried the mangoes. Love it!! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
You’re welcome, Nikki! Thank you for your review.
I make this on repeat. I usually halve the recipe and it’s the perfect amount.
I love this recipe and make it every week! For me getting perfect clumps has taken some trial and error but now have a tried and true method: I work in half batches on half cookie sheets. I use Bob’s Redmill Old Fashioned Rolled Oats and a dark but thin syrup (spring tree organic works great). I’ve found if you drizzle a little bit of syrup after the stir and pack about halfway through, it helps with big chunks after it cools!
Also I add salt to taste at the very end of mixing everything together.
Thanks for this amazing recipe, Kate!
You’re welcome, Adele!
Discovered my 92 year old dad loves granola. Couldn’t head to the bulk section at Winco fast enough!
Your recipe turned out great with a few nut and seed additions of my liking!
Thanks
Brian – CA
This recipe is so good. I’ve made it several times.
Can you substitute quick oats?
This is best as written. It won’t likely clump up as well and could burn.
The only problem with this granola is that I eat way too much of it! If I wanted to make it chocolatey, do you know how much cocoa powder I should add?
I haven’t tired it so I can’t say for sure. Sorry!
Hi Kate,
Wonderful recipe! I eyeballed the amounts of pecans,walnuts, dates,apricots,coconut and raisins. I used old fashioned rolled oats and the honey. I tasted it straight out of the oven and it is delicious. Already starting to crisp up as it cools. Thank you for sharing!!
You’re welcome, Lena! I appreciate your review.
Amazing recipe. I make it with almonds, which taste much like the sugar roast almonds you get at fairs, and seeds (pumpkin, sunflower). Tastes fantastic as a reasonably healthy and tasty with plain yoghurt.
The only problem I have with this granola is everyone who tries it now wants me to make them a batch too. That’s how yummy it is. I made a big batch and took it on a family sibling vacation so on mornings when we didn’t have anything planned it was an easy meal. It was a hit.
Wonderful! Just made my first batch. Came out perfect. The kitchen smells incredible.
Thank you!
You’re welcome, Susan! I appreciate your review.
I over cooked it and wondering how to repurpose. It isn’t horrible, mostly just a bit too savory and not sweet. Can these be hydrated and sweetened up with a granola bar recipe? We love peanut butter so would that work? Please help haha.
I’m sorry to hear that! I don’t think you can repurpose it. You could try to have it more as a cereal or just add it to yogurt and expect more of a crunch.
My absolute favorite granola recipe ever! I’m so happy to have found it. The family raves about it! ❤️
Thank you for your comment, Cathy!
Hi Kate,
I made this recipe using pecans, raisins, and extra virgin olive oil. Baked for about 23 minutes, and it turned out well. Very tasty!
Thanks
This has been my go-to granola recipe for years now. I tend to throw in more dried fruits, but I’m a sweet freak. I also use a bit more honey to make it a bit chunkier. And walnuts instead of pecans for the omega 3. Its great on my morning yogurt parfaits!
That’s great to hear, Karen! Thank you for your review.
I used your recipe to make granola for the first time and it was delicious! Question- how can I make it so that it turns crunchier? Thanks!
Hi Zoe, how long are you baking it for?
I’ve been making this recipe for the past few years and my very picky 17 year old always gobbles it up. So thank you!
Hi, We love this recipe and make it often! This weekend we have guests with nut allergies. Any suggestions what we could use and still have the amazing taste? Thank you all!
Hi, Samantha! Just omit the nuts and use more pepitas instead. They are seeds so you shouldn’t have issues.
It should be great for breakfast with yoghurt
Great Recipe! Do you let the granola cool before putting in the dried fruit?
Yes, let it cool first. Thank you for your review, Brenda!
Can I use organic olive oil instead of coconut oil?
Sure! It works great here too.
Hi Kate,
First time making this, my husband and I both love it!! Thank you for posting this recipe. I love the versatility and the customizations that we can do! Turned out perfect! We will be trying the no bake granola bars next week.
You’re welcome, Wendy!
I just made this and it turned out great! I used sliced almonds, sunflower seeds, and chopped dried apricots.
I make this granola the other day and it is amazing. The taste is spot on – not too sweet. I followed the recipe using GF oats. I can’t wait to try other recipes you offer. A quick question – I waited two hours to cool down before breaking it up but I’d still like it to be chunkier. What can I add or subtract to make it that way?
I recommend this recipe best as written. You can try only waiting until it cools, less than 2 hrs on a cooling rack, and try breaking it up then. Sometimes humidity or sitting out too long can impact it when you go to store it.
This recipe is incredible! Thank you for sharing. I used a mix of slivered almonds, whole raw almonds and crushed walnuts. I also added dried cranberries and yellow raisins and cooked it with the granola. I let it cool for a couple of hours and there are the perfect clumps in it. It’s amazing!!
This is seriously delicious. I used half pecans/half almonds and then sunflower seeds because I couldn’t find pepitas. For the fruit I used half Crasins and half dried cherries. I am thrilled with how this came out and I love knowing exactly what’s in my granola. Thank you for, yet again, another awesome recipe!
You’re welcome, Lori!
This recipe is a staple in my kitchen. Sometimes they substitute nut butter for some of the coconut oil. It’s delicious with plain whole milk Greek yogurt. Thanks for posting this recipe!
You’re welcome, Jenny!
Due to family nut allergies, I need to modify this. What would the proportions be if i left out the nuts and fruit? Thanks, in advance!
Love this I made it and it was the best I will never buy granola again
Thank you for your guidance towards the best granola
You’re welcome, Sandra! I appreciate your review.
Any high altitude adjustments needed?