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.
This granola is fabulous – the best I have ever eaten. So good in fact, that when I shared some with my daughter and her husband, he asked for 10 more pounds! I made it for him for his birthday (though not in that quantity)and he is happy! Not overly sweet or oily, but just right.
I love it! I’m glad it was just right for you, Theresa.
I use pecans, honey, lemon extract and coconut on mine! It is absolutely delicious! Thank you for posting this recipe Kathryne!
I made the granola this morning, hoping for the clump factor that has eluded my granola efforts for years. While the granola is super tasty, for me there was no clumping! I used maple syrup and wonder if that’s the cause- doesn’t there need to be crystallization that would bind the oats and nuts? Thanks for your thoughts.
I’m sorry to hear it didn’t clump for you! Did you let it cool completely?
I’ve made it twice, once all maple and once with half honey and definitely had more clumping with the honey as being careful to press down after storing halfway through cooking.
I will try with honey next! I made it a second time, with maple syrup as before but with melted coconut oil for a change. After letting it completely cool, there were a few clumps that disappeared once I stirred in the fruit. It’s so delish and each bite crunchy regardless of clumps I’m starting to care less!
So delicious, but it did not clump. I see others said the same thing. I used honey. I let it cool. Would using a bit more honey make a difference? It did feel like it was a bit dry? Perfect for my yogurt, though… And I kept the fruit separate. The granola on its own was delicious!
I have had the same clumping problems. I have made it three times already, twice with honey and once with Maple syrup. I didn’t see much of a difference with either but I think I’m going to try adding extra honey this time… Because I am making it a fourth time!
A trick is to add lots of Orange rind. Omg!! Delicious!!
Easy to make and so delicious! My go to recipe.
This granola was super tasty! While my granola did not end up being “clumpy” as I anticipated, this was still super tasty and I will definitely be making this again!
My go-to granola recipe! So easy, healthy, and delicious. The recipe makes enough to last my whole family at least a week, and they all love it. Thanks!
Anyway to add peanut butter into this? What should I sub for peanut butter or almond butter?
Hi Lucie, this one isn’t designed to be made with peanut butter. Sorry! Although, it is great to be served with a nut butter. Delicious!
I have made this granola many times and it is always such a hit. I even eat it on its own as a dessert….so delicious!!
This was so good, I made my second dose today, 1 week later! My mom told me I should add more oats because everything tastes so good and it works out expensive, but why not treat ourselves to the best Thanks so much for the share x
I love this recipe! I have made it several times in various ways to suit individual tastes. It comes together very quickly once one has gathered the ingredients. I use half coconut oil, and half olive oil. I also bake half the coconut flakes with the granola as suggested, and add the other half later. I look forward to getting to Trader Joe’s and trying freeze dried raspberries and strawberries. My husband likes it with dried cherries.
A second note! My grandchildren have gotten into the act and successfully produced a big batch. Also, I had a restaurant’s salad with a scattering of granola on it, and it was delicious! You might give that a try.
I remember trying this a few months ago with unrefined coconut oil, but the taste was too strong. Would Refined coconut oil work the same, or should I try olive oil?
Hi Kal! You could use refined coconut oil, or a mildly flavored olive oil like California Olive Ranch Everyday. Either works!
Thank you! We used refined, and it turned out just right. No coconut taste at all!
I was craving granola this afternoon so I just got up and made it! In an hour I was having it with fresh oat milk and it was delicious!! Super quick and I basically had all the ingredients already. I used dates although they did burn a bit so I’d leave them a bit less time in the oven next time. I used a bit of olive oil and honey but I feel you can’t mess with this, it’s super simple and guaranteed delicious!
Hi, Kate (and Cookie)!I love this recipe and make it on a regular basis, mixing up the mix-ins. It occurred to me today that a peanut butter version could potentially be life-changing — is there an easy way to sub or add that in?
Hi Fiona! So glad to hear it. I love the idea of a peanut butter variation, but I haven’t had tried it. There’s a chance the peanut butter might burn in the oven. You could try replacing half of the oil with peanut butter. Let me know if you give it a try!
Hey, I’ve made this a few times only using peanut butter in place of the oil, but leaving the rest of the ingredients the same. I put the maple syrup and the peanut butter in a small bowl and microwave it so that I can mix it well/thin it out to make it easier to coat the dry ingredients. I don’t know how much it tastes like the original recipe, but I like it.
I had all the ingredients already to make this wonderful crispy granola. It came together in a snap and smells amazing while it cools. I am so happy with the crispiness, I am not a fan of hard clumps of granola and this is not that. Not too sweet, it’s perfect. Thank you for the recipe.
I made this granola for the first time today, and holy crap! This stuff is AMAZING! I’ve tried a few other granola recipes in the past, but they all pale in comparison. I’m looking forward to experimenting with some of the variations noted in this recipe. I made this recipe with steel cut oats, because that’s what I had, so I doubled the cooking time. It turned it out to be so delish that our family has already eaten most of the batch I made this morning! An added bonus of making this granola is the house smells like cinnamon and maple syrup!
Love to hear that, Katie! Thank you so much for sharing.
This is a delicious granola. Thank you so much for sharing it. I will be making this regularly.
Our new favourite granola!
Everything I make these days is from your page. Love your work. Big fan.
Thank you, Bri!
Hi,m Kalpa loved your recipe.its very delicious and healthy.my kids just loved it.this makes a delicious and nutritious breakfast fr my kids which gave a good smileon their face to start with a healthy day.my kids love chocolate very much is there any way I can make chocolate flavour granola.i have added chocolate chips but I need chocolate flavour.plz if you can help me with some suggestion it would be a grt help.thank you
Pls can I use quick cook oat instead
Made today, my large baking tray was in another oven being used fof something else, sdo I ended up putting it in a slightly deeper, smaller tray. I didn’t press it down after turning it, turned out fantastic, small clumps, larger clumps, just delicious! Came down to find the teenager shovelling it down, taste testing? Got big seal of approval all round. Yummy!
I think that is a win on all fronts, Sinead! Thanks so much for sharing.
This is a winner for our household! Well balanced. We use a little less maple syrup, and it’s just right. Thank you for sharing!
Love it! You’re welcome, Christine.
So good! I’ve been looking for a not so sweet granola recipe for years and this is it! just enough sweetness with Maple Syrup and roasted with coconut oil. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Meg! Thank you for your review.
Perfect granola
Thank you, Alane!
My husband and I are thoroughly addicted. Sooooo good and easy to make. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I also use dried cherries in addition to the craisins. Yum!
I love it! It’s addicting, that’s for sure. Thank you for sharing, Pat!
Dang, girl, you did it again! Followed your recipe to the t and it turned out divine, small clumps and all. (It was while I was baking this that I realized I had to start reviewing your awesome recipes, I use them so much because they are that good). Curious if you can use quick oats (not instant) in lieu of old fashioned, in case I run out and we want another batch before going back to the store. Otherwise, Thanks, again, Kate! Also, Cookie is adorable.
Thank you, Susan! I’m glad you love it, clumps and all!
This recipe and your commentary on it are the BEST!
I have made this recipe a dozen times since I first found it online.
It is so versatile and comes out perfect every time!
Store bought granola just doesn’t cut it for us anymore.
Thank you for your expertise and passion.
Tracy C
This granola is sooo good! To keep blood sugar low I use sugar free honey. This is a big hit at our house! Thanks for the great recipe!
Just curious, what is sugar free honey if honey is sugar made from nectar?
Just made it and it’s super delicious!! Thank you!
Oh my gosh sooooooo good! I made homemade yogurt to go with and this granola was perfect! Not too sweet and absolutely delicious! My family LOVED it!! I like that you can tweak the basic recipe to personal liking for mix ins, too! Thanks for the recipe!
We only had instant oats ( had some trouble finding the old fashioned ones), which worked great but be sure to cut down the temp if you go the quick oats route. I did 250 for one hour.
Hey! Can’t wait to try this recipe! Could I add chia seeds, hemp hearts, ground flax?
Hi Holly! You could try it, but it might impact the cluster result.
it is very good
So delicious and so versatile a recipe to tinker to the available ingredients. The results still come out fabulous that me and my daughter always seem to need a batch ready to dig into!!
Interested to know how many calories in this being Nut free
This is the BEST GRANOLA!!!!! I guarantee you will love it. So good on yogurt or I sprinkled it over some ice cream and cooked apples. DELICIOUS!!!
Probably silly question, but re #6 “Store the granola in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 to 2 weeks” – does this mean that the granola is good for 1-2 weeks or we should store it for 1-2 weeks before eating?
Just made it and it’s delicious and so easy!
Hi Sarah! I’m glad you love it. It will keep well for 1-2 weeks.
absolutely love this recipe. I have never been a fan of granola until this. I used pecans and silvered almonds and topped with chopped dates. Coconut oil and maple syrup is definitely the way to go (but I will admit I didn’t try with other ingredients).
For a great snack serve yourself a bowl of this granola with frozen blueberries and a heavy splash of oat milk. Unreal. thank you.
This is the 3rd time I’m making this, I just love it! I put it in my yogurt and my husband puts it on his ice cream
Hi! Kate I have made this 4 times now and I have to be giving it away as a pressie in order to make it again, I will eat it until it is all gone for every meal otherwise!
Love your stuff girl.
Bec
We love this granola! Not only is it healthy but it’s delicious. We have even stopped buying our favorite store brand.
Thank you for this recipe! My husband loves it. It’s pretty much his go-to breakfast every morning. I like that you give the basic recipe with proportions and then variations, so that we can riff on the basics and make it our own. Some things I discovered: you can cut the honey to 1/3 cup instead of 1/2 cup. Honey is stickier than maple syrup & creates more chunks. Stopping the baking to add anything keeps the clumps from forming. I put everything in at once with no bad results. I increase the cinnamon to 1 whole tsp. Finally, after it comes out of the oven I press it down hard once again. If you let it cool down on its own, it gets nice and chunky. Can make bars or cereal both. Love it!
This is the best recipe, it’s so light and fresh. I love that it’s so versatile. Thank you for sharing.
I made this granola all my family absolutely loved it. The only thing is after I let it cool, when taking it from the pan to put it into a container, some stick to the parchment paper, is it normal? Can I do something to prevent it?
Hi Carolina! Any chance you accidentally used waxed paper instead of parchment paper? They aren’t the same. Other than that, I’ve never had the granola stick to real parchment. You could potentially lightly grease the parchment paper before spreading the granola on top.
Hi! In effect I used waxed paper, got confused with it. But now I have parchment paper ready for next batch! Thank you very much!!
This is by far the best granola I have ever had! Used good quality olive oil and agave nectar + tablespoon of erythriol and it’s perfect and lumpy. I never rate anything but this recipe is amazing!
Thanks Kate, loved this recipe and made it while I was finishing blending one of your soups I made the night before – also delicious. Love how many of your recipes just use pantry staples!
Yum! I have been making the same granola recipe(which I love), but now I alternate with this recipe. So good! Thank you for all the tips and suggestions.
Great recipe! I make a fresh batch of this granola every weekend for my daughters who take it with them and eat it throughout the week when they are away from home. I tried many Recipes before finding this one but now always use only the Cookie and Kate granola. We all love it. Thx!
Hi Kate, thanks for sharing this recipe! Do you have any ideas on what to do with granola that’s too salty? I must have put in too much in mine
Hi Alisha! What type of salt did you use? It could have been you used too much or it may have not mixed well.
I used pink Himalayan salt-I think I used too much. I was thinking of making a batch of unsalted granola and mixing it with the overly salted one to try and make it taste less salty?
Hi Alisha! Yes, sounds like you may have. Sure! That could work, but you may still get some more salty bites in there.
Do you let it cool on the cookie sheet?
Yes! That is how you get it to turn clumpy.
I love this granola recipe! Super simple. I added chia and flax seeds to amp the “healthiness”. I have already made more than once. Such a welcome aroma, makes you feel cozy as it is baking. It doesn’t last long. Delicious on its own as a snack or added to your almond milk and daily banana to kick start the morning.
Hello, I just wanted to say that this is one of the best granola recipes out there! When I was mixing the ingredients I couldn’t stop myself from eating it because it was so good and now am addicted to delicious, crunchy, clumpy granola (my mom is too). Best of all it’s so healthy and nutritious! Thank you for posting this recipe. I look forward to making more delicious food from your blog!
Oh yum… Delish! I have been making granola since the 1970s, so I ought to know. Many thanks, Kate!