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.

Homemade Granola

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.

Simple ingredients

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.

Chopped pecans

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.

Healthy choices

Melt the butter and blend with the honey and vanilla.

Mix honey and vanilla

Pour the honey mixture in with the dry ingredients. Stir to coat evenly.

Bake!

Spread on parchment lined cookie sheets

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.

Stir mixture to ensure proper browning

After the granola has cooled, store in an airtight container. This should last about 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Store in an airtight container
Makes a delicious breakfast

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

Be creative with this recipe. The butter/honey to oats ratio is the more critical element so you can adjust the amounts of nuts or fruit and it won't mess up the recipe

  • 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

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. Cool completely, put it into an airtight container and it should last two weeks in the refrigerator.

I also add dried cherries, sunflower seeds and other nuts.  For a trail mix you could add M&Ms, raisins and chocolate chips. Use your imagination!

Breakfast, Snack