Making a Delicious and Nutritious Homemade Granola
It is very easy to make a delicious and nutritious granola from scratch. You can alter the recipe to fit your tastebuds and control the quality of the ingredients. This quick and easy recipe is perfect for breakfast, a mid-day snack or a very nice gift to a friend. Many of the ingredients for this homemade granola you may already have on hand.
The Ingredients
This recipe is inspired by one of my son’s classmates. After his parents made a big batch for us, it is now a winning recipe that we’ve tweaked to our own tastes.
Oats, nuts, dried fruit, butter, spices, brown sugar, honey and vanilla is all it takes to make this easy recipe.
Some chopping involved
Measure the dry ingredients and chop the pecans. You can change up the variety of the nuts or leave them out, if you have a nut allergy.
In this recipe, I use slivered almonds and pecans. However, you can add any nut you like~walnuts, pistachios, Brazil nuts. For dried fruit I use both cranberries and cherries. Did you know cherries are antioxidants and anti-inflammatory, high in Vitamin A, boost exercise recovery, benefit heart health, may help with arthritis symptoms, and improves sleep quality? Lately I am adding dried cherries to everything! For a nice selection of dried cherries, click here.
Assemble
Combine the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Melt the butter and blend with the honey and vanilla.
Pour the honey mixture in with the dry ingredients. Stir to coat evenly.
Bake!
Spread on two cookie sheets. You can either grease the sheets or use parchment paper. Bake in a 220 degree oven for 20-30 minutes until slightly brown. You can stir the mixture half way through the baking process if you want it more evenly browned.
After the granola has cooled, store in an airtight container. This should last about 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
You can alter the amount of nuts or dried fruit as much as you want. The butter/honey to oatmeal ratio is the more critical element. For this recipe, I add sunflower seeds, and both cranberries and cherries. For a trail mix, you could add M&Ms, raisins or chocolate chips.
Breakfast is always a bit challenging for me as I don’t have a big appetite in the morning. To see another easy oatmeal based breakfast recipe, click here. This is also a great grab and go snack. Just measure a portion in a zip lock bag and keep it in the refrigerator for those times when you are hungry and running out the door.
I hope you enjoy this recipe and if you add any other fun ingredients, let me know! Have a wonderful Tuesday!
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Homemade Granola
Ingredients
- 6 cups oatmeal (not instant)
- 1 cup slivered almonds
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 2 TBSP brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup honey
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Melt the butter and combine with honey. When mixed, add the vanilla. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix to coat evenly.
- Spread on greased cookie sheets and bake at 220 degrees for 20-30 minutes until lightly browned. You may want to stir it all about halfway through the baking process to brown evenly.
- Cool completely, put it into an airtight container and it should last two weeks in the refrigerator.
Notes
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Yum, I can’t wait to make this. I have everything in the pantry. We love to snack on granola and the store bought ones have added unnatural ingredients that I refuse to feed my family. I too am not a breakfast person, not hungry, so I always eat a brunch. Thank you for the recipe.
Crystal, I’m not a big breakfast person either. Let me know how the granola recipe works for you…I really love it!
LOOKS EASY AND FANTASTIC!
THANK YOU!
Having a bowl this morning with homemade almond milk. Easy AND delicious!
Yum! I have been making granola since the mid-60s — go ahead…yes…that makes me an oldster. In all those years I have never once thought to substitute the oil I use with yummy butter!! Nut allergies…so sadly I leave out any nuts (the best part of granola…right?).Crozier Honey! Gee…I’ve never seen that on the grocery store shelves!! I use local honey and sometimes I mix in Lavender Honey from my local lavender farm! While I don’t eat it with milk I love it on top of yogurt and I eat it dry as a snack all day long. Yours looks so welcoming with your vintage bowl and tablesetting. Thinking I’m going to make a batch with butter later this week and give it a go!! Thanks again for sharing all the beauty in your home…including food, of course.
Tanya, The Crozier honey is made by my brother-in-law and his wife. It is so good. My sweet daughter designed the label too! We always feel blessed when they send us some. Let me know how you like your recipe with butter. And there are so many substitutes for nuts-sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc. Thanks for your comment!
My husband loves granola with his yogurt. We’ll have to give this a try, thanks for sharing Mary 🙂
Knowing you, you will get creative with this recipe. Let me know how you like it!