Do you like your Granola loose or clumpy? Either way, you’ll love this – the ultimate healthy Homemade Granola guide! Mix and match, build your own granola by using the ingredients you like and have on hand.
Easy Homemade Granola
I’m going to be honest with you – I didn’t start making making granola because it’s healthier than store bought. I started because it’s cheaper and and I can control how sweet it is (store bought is so sweet!!!). Then it evolved into a bit of a game, trying to come up with cute flavour combinations. Berry Burst, Apple Pie, Apricot Sunrise, Blueberry Pie, Apple Crumble, Peach ‘n Cream, Maple Crunch, Oatmeal Raisin Cookie.
You get the picture. Basically, desserts in breakfast form!
I make Homemade Granola – or Muesli as some Aussies know it – using a formula. I could talk you through it, but it’s much easier just to show you. ↓↓↓
This is actually a recipe that I posted yonks and yonks ago, but it’s been tweaked and improved, and plus it seems that back in those days I wasn’t much of a talker because the post had zero chatter in it.
The two main changes made to the recipe are to stir the dried fruit in at the end for the loose granola (because some bits can border on burning) and adding a way to make CLUMPY granola without adding loads and loads of honey / sugar / butter simply by stirring through egg whites. Egg is the ultimate food glue, for everything from cakes to cookies, omelettes to meatballs. And it holds true for granola. 🙂
So the same base “formula” applies to both types of granola, except the steps and cooking method are a little different.
Loose granola is as simple as it gets: Combine Dry ingredients, combine Wet ingredients, combine Wet & Dry, spread on tray, bake, add fruit at end.
Simple, yes?
As for clumpy granola, the order of the steps is a little different. The fruit has to be added in at the beginning because you can’t stir it in at the end. Egg white is added to bind the granola together to form clusters, it’s baked at a lower temperature (which helps to ensure the fruit doesn’t burn) then left to cool in the turned off oven which allows it to finish crisping and for the clusters to set..
Ahh, and the one little strange thing I do because you can’t stir the granola as it bakes (because otherwise you’ll break up the clusters!!) is to spread the granola on the tray with a hole in the middle because even when I’m using a fan forced/convection oven, I can never get the middle to go golden and crispy without the edges burning. 🙂
Looks weird I know. But trust me, it makes all the difference!!
And see? Look how it clusters up!
And have you ever thought about gifting granola?? Thoughtful, GREAT VALUE and totally customisable gift!!
OK, so I have to confess I have never ever gifted Granola before. It’s now officially on my list for Christmas gifts this year….
Homemade Granola has gotten all trendy in the past few years, and you’d have to search hard to find a bistro without granola on the weekend brunch menu. And they charge a small fortune for it too.
And that, my friends, is the beauty of this Homemade Granola “formula” – it’s so cheap to make using leftover bits and bobs. Dig into that pantry of yours and scratch together whatever nuts, seeds and dried fruit you can find. Get creative with the spices, go wild with flavourings!
And share your Granola flavouring ideas in the comments below to inspire other readers! I have some suggestions in the notes of the recipe – but I bet you can come up with better ones! – Nagi x
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Healthy Homemade Granola recipe video!
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Build Your Own Homemade Granola (Muesli)
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 4 cups / 360 g rolled oats (not steel cut or quick cooking)
- 1 cup coconut flakes (or more nuts or oats)
- 1 cup raw nuts (eg. sliced almonds, chopped pecans, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds)
- 1/2 cup dried fruit (eg. chopped apricots, apple, pineapple, raisins)
- 1 tsp your favourite spice (eg. cinnamon, pumpkin spice, gingerbread mix)
- 1 pinch salt
Wet Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup sweetener (eg. honey, maple syrup, agave, see note 2 for Brown Sugar)
- 1/3 cup fat (eg. melted butter, canola oil or coconut oil)
- 1 1/2 tsp flavouring (eg. vanilla, almond essence, orange blossom)
CLUMPY Granola:
- 2 egg whites
Instructions
LOOSE Granola:
- Preheat oven to 150C/300F.
- Combine Dry ingredients, excluding dried fruit.
- Combine Wet ingredients.
- Combine Wet and Dry ingredients. Do a taste test. Adjust to taste - more sweet, more fat etc.
- Spread on baking tray and bake until golden, approximately 35 - 40 minutes, tossing twice.
- Stir through dried fruit. Cool. Store in an airtight container.
CLUMPY Granola:
- Preheat oven to 140C/280F. Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
- Combine Wet excluding egg whites.
- Combine Dry including dried fruit.
- Whisk egg whites with fork until foamy.
- Mix Wet and Dry in a large bowl, then mix through egg whites.
- Spread granola on the tray, making a hole in the centre, like a doughnut (see photo in post).
- Bake for 45 minutes - DO NOT STIR - until golden. Check at 35 minutes.
- Then turn the oven off, leave the granola in the oven, and open the oven door open a bit. Leave the granola to cool. The colour will deepen and it will firm up.
- Once cool, break into clusters. Store in an airtight container.
Recipe Notes:
* Apple Pie: As above but use only almonds and dried apples.
* Oatmeal Raisin Cookie: Butter, honey, raisins, vanilla and cinnamon, pinch of All Spice.
* Blueberry Pie: Apple Pie recipe but use dried blueberries instead and skip the cinnamon powder and add a dash of lemon essence.
* Super Berries: Try using dried goji berries!
* Orange Almond: Almonds and orange blossom
* Maple Pecan Pie! Use Pecans, vanilla, butter, maple 2. Brown Sugar: Add this into the Dry Ingredients. 3. Originally published in May 2014, updated with video and improved recipe. Changes include: adding a method to make clumpy granola without adding more sweetener or fat, for the loose granola, adding the dried fruit at the end which ensures none of it burns (sometimes, some fruit on the surface can get a little too brown). All photos were replaced and words were rewritten. 4. Nutrition per serving, assuming 10 servings (about 2/3 cup per serving).
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
He fully understands that he is only permitted on the sheet covered part of the couch.
Vera G says
Good one Nagi, just the way I like it! Agree perfect Xmas gift. Have gifted all kinds of home made stuff.90’s home loan was 17.5% interest there was NO XMAS SHOPPING. LOTS AND LOTS OF BAKING, FLOWERS FROM GARDEN, VEGES, BUNCH OF HERBS, POT PLANTS EVEN COOKING FOR THOSE THAT HAVE WORKED. Love doses photo! Have good w/end!
Nagi says
I remember that time Vera! It was hard in our family too!!
Wynn says
I’ll second the notion that granola sounds much more appealing. It looks wonderful as it is, but my husband needs to skip nuts, seeds, and fruit at the moment. I’d like to make this for him with just the oats, loose or as clusters, but never having made granola, suspect that an even trade-off of 6.5 cups of oats might be a bit too much to work as well?
He’s not accustomed to noticeably sweetened cereals, either, but at present has been less than thrilled with the plain Cheerios he’s been having lately, so a very generous sprinkling of sweetened and toasted spiced oats mixed in with the plain Cheerios might add just the touch of flavor he’s been missing and craving. The granola recipe had provided some very timely inspiration, in any case. Thanks!
Nagi says
Hi Wynn! I’d reduce it down to about 5.5 cups, you’re right, just oats is much more absorbent than using a mix with everything else. 🙂 Just make sure you do a taste test before popping it in the oven. In fact, give your HUBBY a taste test!!
Leah says
Perfect timing! My bulk food store has a sale on this weekend with EVERYTHING you could possibly put in any kind of granola…guess what I’m doing this weekend?! 😀
Ya hafta forgive Dozer … he’s sleeping and has NO idea how his front half got onto your side of the couch. Really. 😉
Nagi says
GO WILD Leah!!! I have so much granola at the moment….. and I’ve given so much away already! Hmm, it’s afternoon tea time here…going to stick my hand in that granola jar! As for Dozer not understanding boundaries…. hmph. it’s not even about him being on MY side of the couch, it’s all that FUR sticking to the FABRIC!!! 😭
Dorothy Dunton says
Hi Nagi! Yes, this would be great for gifting! I’m leaning towards apple pie and the maple pecan pie 🙂 I think dates could be worked into some versions of this (I don’t like raisins so I always use dates instead). Granola sounds SO much more appetizing than muesli. PS another brown recipe..hehe!
Nagi says
I know I know Dorothy!! I tried to add pops of colours with the raspberries but the whole post is still so darn BROWN! 😂
Marianne says
Hi Nagi – Can you elaborate what Orange Blossom is? Is it an extract, like vanilla? I would like to know since that recipe sounds yummy! Thanks!
Nagi says
Hi Marianne! I’m not exactly sure how it’s made but it’s extracted from orange blossoms, it’s got orange hints but it’s not like orange flavour. It’s hard to describe! It’s kind of perfumey 🙂
Georgie | The Home Cook's Kitchen says
i love this ‘build your own granola’ it’s like those make your own adventure books I used to read as a kid and you got to choose your path until it was a dead end and you had to start again. except this granola has no dead end because it looks fabulous! i love that last little bit of dozer, i had a dream about golden retriever puppies last night because I am obsessed!
Nagi says
That’s EXACTLY what it reminds me of!!! Though truthfully I used to totally cheat and check out the endings BEFORE I decided what path to take – 😂
Alison says
Well my oven must be really hot because it burned the coconut and fruit. Very disappointed. I even pulled it out of the oven 15 minutes early. This is my first time making granola. I have lo Led at other recipes and most indicate baking times of 5-10 minutes at most. Thirty minutes is way too long. I
Nagi says
I’m sorry to hear that Alison, I find that it’s needed to get the granola crispy 🙂 N x
Angela says
Hi Nagy,
Great recipe. Easy to make and tastes delicious. I love it!
Greetings, Angela
Nagi says
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for the great review Angela! N xx
Krista says
Hello
If I add the dry fruit into the mixture to bake it will not burn?
Some recipes tell you add dry fruit after the granola comes out of the oven?
Thanks
Nagi says
Hi Krista! I haven’t had a problem with that 🙂
Sandra says
Great recipe! I love fruit, nuts, vanilla, and cinnamon so I doubled them. I also doubled the coconut oil. Turned out delicious! Thanks!!! : )
Nagi says
Pleased to hear you enjoyed it Sandra, thanks for letting me know! N xx
Tracie Ciambotti says
Hi
I want to try this recipe…can steel cut oats be substituted for the rolled oats? Or must they be cooked differently?
Nagi says
I’m sorry I don’t know Tracie, we don’t have steel cut oats here! 🙂 N xx
CARMEN says
I made this recipe yesterday and it turned out great! Used hazelnuts, almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds, cranberries and raisins. Also chose coconut oil and honey. Next time I will increase wet ingredients to get a chunkier result.
I love to have my granola with yogurt for breakfast.
Thanks a lot for sharing this recipe!!!
Nagi says
Great to hear Carmen! Thank you for coming back to let me know! N xx
Mercedes says
I love this recipe! What do I need to add so that I can turn these same recipe into granola bars?
Nagi says
Hi Mercedes! I’ll share a bars recipe soon!
Meena says
Hi nagi.
I have just made this and it’s gone down a treat :). What do you think the calorie count is per portion?
Thanks
Meena
Nagi says
Woo hoo! So glad you enjoyed it Meena! Hmm, I should do a calculator of this using various combinations. Bear with me, I’ll add it to my list!
Sara says
This is my go-to recipe and I haven’t looked for another recipe for granola since I found this! I love how you laid out the options (wet/dry) so you can make it however you want it. I usually use honey and coconut oil and it makes me feel good with such healthy ingredients. Thank you!
Nagi says
I’m so glad you find this useful Sara! Thanks for letting me know! N x
Dayna says
Nagi, I just made this and it was so simple and amazingly delicious thank you for your brilliant and easy to follow recipe xxx
Nagi says
Woo hoo! So glad to hear that you enjoyed it Dayna, thanks for letting me know! N x
els sonnen says
Thank you for the great recipe! I was wondering, for how long can you keep the granola? In a closed jar?
Many thanks:)
Nagi says
Hi! I keep my for up to 1 month but I have it in a very airtight canister! 🙂
Cara says
Does it need to be refrigerated? I just made it and it’s delicious! Hopefully it’s a hit on Mothers Day. Thanks for awesome recipe?
Nagi says
I never do! 🙂
MSK says
Thank you so much for specifying US/non-US measurements and for testing with both standards! I grew up in London and Tokyo, lived in Sydney at one point, now I live in Los Angeles — it drives me bonkers that a lot of people don’t understand how the different measurements can really screw up baked goods. I had to learn the hard way – after a few not-so-great baked goodies using US measuring cups with Japanese/British recipes, I realised that the cups are different in the US….
Anyway thank you so much for the great recipe.
Nagi says
Oh I hear your pain….I’ve had some epic disasters!!! 🙂
De says
I don’t seem to get clumps which I prefer but rather bowl of oats, any suggestions? Double wet ingredients?
Nagi says
Hi De! yes increase the wet by 50% 🙂
Endia says
I made this granola as something yummy to try and I wrote about my experience on my blog. Spoiler alert: I LOVED IT! Thanks for the awesome recipe.
Nagi says
Thank you so much Endia! So glad you enjoyed it!!