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
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.
I love your granola recipe
I love making your healthy granola recipe. But sometimes it burns on the edges, am I doing something wrong?
Hi Mona, what type of pan are you using? If your pan is really dark that will make a difference. Make sure you’re using the right size pan, and that you’re lining it with parchment paper. Those are helpful tips that can make a difference.
Do old-fashioned oats require any preparation before adding them to the recipe, or can they be used directly from the store as is?
Hi Randy, they don’t require any preparation.
I made this recipe tonight as I wanted to make granola for the first time. Not only did it make my house smell amazing it is delicious and I cannot stop snacking on it. Definitely making this again.
Always delicious!
I just made this granola and it is absolutely perfect, and I even cut the recipe in half. I used almonds and hemp seeds for the nut/seed blend and it tastes amazing. This will be my go-to granola recipe and I can’t wait to try different additions. Thank you!
First time we didn’t cook it enough, second time too much- now I know the exact time my oven requires. It’s a great recipe and every oven is different, so give it a chance.
Perhaps use malt extract instead of honey or maple syrup for a fructose free granola.
I love your granola recipe and have been making it for years. It’s quick and easy to make. This time I ran out of old-fashioned rolled oats. Can I substitute quick oats?
Hi Francine, quick oats are more delicate and so they don’t work well in baking. You wouldn’t get the same texture.
My granola always stick to the parchment paper how can I stop that? I’ve tried spraying with a little oil aswell!
Still tastes great but a lot of wastage.
Hi Debbie, are you using a half-sheet pan? It should be 13×18 inches. You need to crowd the oats a bit so they don’t burn.
Thank you so much for sharing this simple and scrumptious recipe. My kids and husband love it and it makes the house smell heavenly.
I wish I could give it more than 5 stars. This was superb!
Thank you for such a great recipe. This 70 year old learns something new every day.
Hi Kate! I recently got into granola and wanna start making my own. I’m at a loss though because all the dried fruit I see has tons of added sugar :( any recommendations? I don’t really care what berries they are
Hi Nadia, you have to look at the labels, but it is possible to get dried fruit that is no sugar added.
This was the simplest and best granola recipe I’ve ever used.
This recipe had a very sad outcome. I spent a lot of money on the ingredients, eager to bring it to a party I was going to. I followed the recipe exactly. After cooling, I added chocolate chips (as per the recipe). When I went to break it up later, the granola would not come off the parchment paper. I finally ended up lifting up the parchment paper, and tried to tear the parchment paper
off the bottom of the granola, but all that did was cause the parchment paper to shred on the bottom of the granola, which was stuck on the bottom of the entire sheet of granola. When I tried to remove the parchment paper from the granola, all that did was break the granola into crumbs. Additionally, almost all (!) of the chocolate chips did not stick to the granola at all because the granola was cooled by the time I added the chocolate chips (as per the recipe). It was as if I just dumped the chocolate chips in with the crumby granola. When there was an actual chunk of granola, there was parchment paper all over the bottom of it. It was a total mess. I had to pitch the entire batch and I had nothing to to the party so we stopped at the grocery store on the way there.
Please do not eliminate this negative review, as I don’t see any other negative views and I can’t believe no one else had these issues.
I make this all the time. Thank you for the recipe
I have blueberries now that are ripe. Could you tell me how to use them and what add-ins would taste good.
Hi Janet, I would just add the fresh blueberries on top of yogurt and granola.
Best granola ever and so easy! I consistently make this about every two weeks and freeze half each time!
The family loves it! ❤️ I added the coconut 3/4 of the way through and it was perfect. The oven temp and cooking time in your recipe was spot on for me.
This turned out beautifully!! We are all enjoying it – even my sceptical husband
if you put to much honey what can you do
Hi Linda, you can try to adjust the other ingredients to compensate.
Hi, I love your recipe for healthy granola. Any advice for making it at 6000 feet elevation? Thanks!
I don’t think the granola recipe will require much adjusting because it doesn’t rely on leavening ingredients or have liquid. You might want to adjust the oven temperature or baking time.
Dee-ee-ee-licious! Made it today! Thanks!
Fantastic! Used pepitas, pecans, slivered almonds, coconut flakes and pecans as my mix-ins…it was amazing! It wasn’t very chunky, but it could have been because I messed with it too much while adding the coconut, or maybe because I added so many goodies. No biggie! Two of us ate the whole batch over the 4th of July weekend, it was THAT GOOD! Your recipes are my go-to these days! Thank you!
Hi! Do I add dried cranberries (or any dried fruit) together with the rest of the ingredients, or after the granola has been baked? Thanks!
Hi Racquel, add any dried fruit after it bakes.
The title of this recipe is 100% correct: this is indeed The Very Best Granola. Will make again and again.
As a breakfast/Pastry chef I’m always looking for new ideas. This recipe is a winne, our residents & staff love it. I use half honey/half maple syrup & olive oil. I use pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, pecans & coconut flakes. Add sultanas when cool.
Our very favorite granola recipe!! Can you help us figure out how it is crunchy sometimes, the best ever, and sticky moist other times. We’ve made it hundreds of times exactly the same way and can’t figure out why it is sticky moist some of the times. We like it crunchy!
I have made this regularly since 2021. Don’t like porridge, overnight oats or baked oats, yet I love the granola (and the oats are baked). Crazy I know. Hubby loves it and he’ll eat a whole jar. I prefer it with fruit and yoghurt.
Hi Andrea, thanks for taking the time to rate and review! All those breakfast options have different textures, so I’m glad you found one you enjoy.
I love this recipe and use it all the time. One thing we started doing though was to use peanut butter instead of coconut! So delicious!
Hi Rhonda, I’m so glad you enjoy the recipe and that peanut butter has worked for you.