Easy homemade granola
Makes a perfect breakfast cereal or yogurt topping
Homemade granola is an inexpensive and tasty alternative to buying boxes in cereal aisle. It's also very simple to make, and easy to customize to your liking.
Ingredients
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut (optional)
- 1 cup chopped nuts and seeds (optional)
- 2/3 cup dried fruit (optional)
Directions
- Heat oven to 300F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Stir together oil, honey or maple syrup, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.
- Mix in oats, shredded coconut, and nuts and seeds if using. Stir until oats are coated with the oil-sweetner mixture.
- Transfer the granola onto the prepared baking sheet, and press into an even layer.
- Bake until oats are golden brown and any nuts added are toasted, around 20 minutes. Stir once, halfway through the baking process. The granola won't be dry as it comes out of the oven, but it'll crisp up as it cools.
- Sprinkle dried fruit (if using) onto the granola. If you want clusters of oats in your granola, tamp it down as it cools to encourage clumping.
Tips
- Granola can also be made on the stovetop. Toast the oat mixture over a low heat in a large skillet on the stove, stirring constantly until it's golden brown.
Variations
- If you don't have honey or maple syrup, try subbing in a 1/4 cup of brown sugar
- Recipe can be made with any nuts, seeds, and dried fruit you like; pecans, walnuts, peanuts, dried canberries, raisins, apricots, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds are all great ideas.
- Change up the seasonings to make more flavourful granola. Cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, allspice, cloves and salt will make a chai spice blend that's lovely on this.
Storage
- Cool granola completely before transferring to an airtight container. Properly baked granola should last on the counter for up to a month.
Recipe adapted from the Tarrant Area Food Bank