Easy & Delicious Homemade Granola
Baked granola ready for eating!
I fell in love with granola during an internship I had in college. I was handling social media for a coal ash non-profit and joined the founder on a road trip to Atlanta (I think? Honestly, that was a long time ago). This was my first “business” trip so I felt pretty legit and during one of the seminar days, they had food laid out for breakfast. I’m not a big breakfast food fan but I wasn’t sure what the food situation would be like later in the day so I grabbed a few things and sat down. One of those things was a little yogurt parfait with, you guessed it, granola. I tried it and.. I loved it from the get-go. I remember asking someone “WHAT is IN this??” and they looked at me like I was some kind of fool and said, “Uh, probably yogurt, granola, and berries?” I had thirds. So, I guess you could say, coal ash is the reason I fell in love with granola.
There are lots of varieties of granola that you’ll find in the stores - even the most bizarre of flavored ones - but I’ve been desperate to make my own for some time now. So, here it is! It’s a little bit sweet, a tiny bit salty, and a lot crunchy. I will forever prefer mine stacked in a parfait but you do you, my friend.
Equipment:
Airtight container (for storage)
Yields: Approx. 8 cups
Ingredients:
4 cups old-fashioned oats
2 cups raw nuts + seeds*
¼ tsp salt
½ cup coconut oil, melted
¾ cup honey or maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F non-convect.
In a large bowl, mix together oats, nuts/seeds, and salt until evenly distributed.
Add in your vanilla and honey, cut through, and stir, repeatedly, to combine.
Pour in your melted coconut oil, and stir to combine.
On a large cookie sheet covered with parchment paper, pour your granola mixture on and evenly spread it on the tray. Working from the center outwards, I used a spoon and gently pushed the granola out from side to side, corner to corner until it was in one even layer. It should be tightly compact.
Bake for 10 minutes, remove and stir. Re-flatten onto the baking tray and place back in the oven for another 10 minutes, until lightly golden in color.
Remove from heat and cool for 45 minutes to one hour, do not stir or touch it while it is cooling.
Once cool, use a spoon or your hands to break up the granola as desired. I broke mine into big and small chunks.
Store in an airtight container for two weeks at room temperature or in the freezer (in a freezer-safe bag) for up to three months.
When you make this crunchy, nutty, beautiful granola, tag @accentgolden so I can see!
Notes:
Choose any nut and seed combo that you like, I went with the below but you can swap and adjust based on your own preferences. Just keep in mind the sizes of the seeds, I’d recommend having a mix of sizes for a range of textures and bites.
¾ cup almonds, roughly chopped
⅓ cup pepitas
⅔ cup pistachios
¼ cup chia seeds
If you prefer less sugar and/or more salt, you can always cut the honey/maple syrup to ½ cup and up your salt to ½ tsp.
You can always stir in seasonings like cinnamon or ground ginger as well! Just mix them in with the salt - while the mix is still dry - for even distribution
I love a coconut taste to my granola so I was happy with coconut oil (it has a very mild taste in this recipe) but you can substitute for olive or canola oil if preferred.
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