Homemade Healthy Granola
Crunchy, lightly sweet, and spiced with cinnamon, this granola is the perfect addition to yogurt, smoothies, oatmeal, and more! It’s gluten-free, refined-sugar free, and full of healthy fats and nutrients to help keep you full and satisfied all morning long.
Why Should I Make Homemade Granola?
Store-bought granola is much more expensive, plus it’s full of added sugars that will give you a mid-morning energy crash. Homemade granola, in addition to being budget-friendly and low sugar, is a lot easier to customize to your needs and allows you to get creative!
I’ve searched for my go-to granola recipe for a while now, and I think I’ve found it. No joke, this recipe is on a weekly rotation in my household—it’s that good.
What to Use Granola For
Besides eating it on its own, granola can be used for a wide range of things (another reason why I love it so much)! These are my favorite ways to use it:
- Yogurt bowls. Pretty simple, but a delicious breakfast or snack! Start with a good yogurt, mix in some cinnamon, and top it with nut butter and granola—you’ve got breakfast in 5 minutes!
- Smoothies and açaí bowls. Similar to yogurt bowls, granola adds a great toasty flavor and crunch to a smoothie or açaí bowl.
- Oatmeal. The breakfast of champs: oats on oats.
- Cereal. Simply pour some granola in a bowl, top with milk of choice, and dig in!
- Trail mix. This one’s kind of self-explanatory. Grab whatever trail mix ingredients you want—M&Ms, raisins, nuts, pretzels, cashews—and throw in a handful or two of granola.
- Waffles and pancakes. One of my favorite ways to enjoy pancakes is with a good dollop of peanut butter, some fresh fruit, and a handful of granola; it’s something different than your average pat of butter and maple syrup, but delicious nonetheless.
Granola FAQ
- Why is there an egg white in this recipe? Besides adding a little extra protein, an egg white binds the granola together to get those characteristic clusters instead of just toasted and crumbly oats.
- What kind of nuts can I use? When it comes to nuts, the world is your oyster! Pistachios, cashews, peanuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans—they’ll all work in this recipe, but just be sure to chop them into small enough pieces (at most 1/2 an inch).
- Why is my granola crumbly? You most likely didn’t add enough of one of the liquid ingredients, or your egg white wasn’t large enough. To fix this next time, try and add more maple syrup or olive oil. Keep in mind that the mixture shouldn’t be really wet, otherwise it won’t crisp up well in the oven.
Hope you give this recipe a try—it’s one I make on repeat!
Homemade Healthy Granola
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups nuts coarsely chopped *(see note)
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- ½ cup almond flour
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt** see note
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil or melted coconut oil
- 1 large egg white
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mix together the chopped nuts, oats, almond flour, chia seeds, cinnamon, and salt until evenly distributed.
- Add the maple syrup and olive oil. In a small bowl, whisk the egg white until slightly frothy and broken up, about 1-2 minutes. Add the egg white to the granola mixture.
- Stir the granola until well combined, then pour it onto the prepared baking sheet. Firmly press the mixture into an even slab ¼ to ½ inch thick.
- Bake the granola for 30-35 minutes, until crisp and golden around the edges. To test it for doneness, open the oven and carefully pinch a bit of granola off of the pan. Let it cool. If you taste it and it's too soft, continue to bake until crisp to your preference.
- Remove the granola from the oven and allow it to cool completely before breaking it up into pieces (the size is up to you).
- Store the granola in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks.
