Healthy Granola

This easy 7-ingredient granola recipe is a delicious healthy snack or quick breakfast. It not only tastes delicious, but it smells amazing while it cooks!

Healthy Granola

This is my go-to healthy granola recipe. Packed with oats and nuts and naturally sweetened with maple syrup, it’s a great way to get fiber and healthy fats into your first meal of the day. Even better, it clumps well! I add a tablespoon of almond butter to bind the components together, so you get plenty of delicious nutty clusters. I like to make it on Sunday and have it on hand for yogurt parfaits throughout the week!

While we don’t have kids that are going back to school this week, I’m starting to think more and more about healthy make-ahead breakfast ideas. You know – to send to work with my big kid (Jack) in hopes that one day he might start skipping the greasy breakfast tacos & processed Costco bagels that are usually waiting for him at the office. With a warm-spiced, coconut-y flavor and an addictive crunchy texture, this homemade granola recipe may have won him over.

Healthy Granola recipe ingredients Healthy Granola recipe

Healthy Granola Ingredients

My basic granola recipe calls for 7 simple ingredients:

  1. Oats. Be sure to use whole rolled oats (not instant oats), and if you’re gluten-free, look for Certified Gluten-Free Oats that haven’t been processed in a factory containing wheat.
  2. Walnuts. Feel free to use any nut you have on hand. Walnuts are my favorite, but almonds or pecans are delicious too.
  3. Cinnamon. Once this granola is in the oven, the cinnamon in this recipe will make your kitchen smell amazing!
  4. Sea Salt. I add a pinch to highlight the sweet, nutty flavors.
  5. Maple Syrup. Unlike white or brown sugar, maple syrup gives the oats and nuts a deep, caramelized sweetness.
  6. Coconut Oil. This helps toast the nuts & oats as they bake. I like to use unrefined coconut oil for a coconut-y taste. If you don’t like the flavor of coconut, use refined coconut oil instead.
  7. Almond Butter. We all love granola clumps, right? The almond butter in this recipe makes it wonderfully clumpy!

Homemade granola

Healthy Granola Recipe Variations

Homemade granola is flexible, so feel free to play with this recipe. Here are a few ideas for changing it up:

  • Swap the walnuts for your favorite nuts and seeds. Almonds, pecans, pistachios, sunflower seeds, pepitas, hemp seeds, or a mix would all be excellent.
  • After your granola cools, add mix-ins! Stir in chia seeds, chocolate chips, dried cherries, or your favorite dried fruit.
  • Spice it up! I love the cinnamon here, but other warm spices, such as cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, or allspice, would be good additions too.

Let me know what variations you try!

This granola is great on its own as a healthy snack, but it’s also delicious with fruit & milk. Alternatively, layer it into parfaits with berries and yogurt for a quick, nutritious breakfast.

Homemade granola recipe

If you love this homemade granola recipe…

Try my overnight oats, baked oatmeal, quinoa breakfast bowl, or oatmeal breakfast cookies next!


4.8 from 8 reviews

Healthy Granola

 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
This is my go-to healthy granola recipe! Enjoy it on its own as a healthy snack, or eat it for breakfast with fruit, milk, or yogurt!
Author:
Recipe type: breakfast
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 cup whole rolled oats*
  • ¼ cup chopped walnuts
  • ¼ cup coconut flakes, optional
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon creamy almond butter
  • fruit and yogurt, for serving
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 300°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine the oats, walnuts, coconut flakes, if using, cinnamon, and salt. Drizzle in the coconut oil and maple syrup and add the almond butter. Stir until combined. Scoop the granola onto the baking sheet and press the mixture into a 1-inch-thick circle. This will encourage clumping.
  3. Bake for 15 minutes, rotate the pan halfway, and use a fork to gently break the granola apart just a bit. Bake for 15 minutes more, or until golden brown. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
*If you're gluten-free make sure you get oats that are labeled as Certified Gluten-Free. Oats are often processed in factories with gluten, so it's important to look for that label.

 

39 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it):  

  1. Charlie
    07.14.2024

    Turned out great when using initial ingredients! Would I be able to substitute vegetable oil for coconut oil? Thanks for the yummy recipe!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      07.15.2024

      Hi Charlie, I think that would work fine.

  2. Amy
    05.07.2024

    Can peanut butter be substituted for almond butter?

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      05.10.2024

      Hi Amy, yep! It can.

  3. Alison Kalinski
    09.19.2022

    This was so easy and delicious! So great with yogurt this morning (and hard not to just snack on it!). I made some substitutions based on what we had – 3/4 rolled oats, the rest steel cut, almonds instead of walnuts, regular oil instead of coconut. and I accidentally cooked the dried fruit instead of putting it in at the end…but it all worked out amazing! thank you!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      09.21.2022

      I’m glad you enjoyed it!

  4. Sara
    09.09.2021

    This is a great recipe! Make two batches for cereal for the week! Has anyone experimented with adding pumpkin pie spice?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      09.09.2021

      Hi Sara, I’m so glad you loved it! I think replacing the cinnamon measurement with pumpkin pie spice would be delish.

  5. Oona
    08.08.2021

    I LOVE this granola recipe!! It’s perfectly sweet and crunchy!! I use almonds instead of walnuts, and a touch of vanilla extract, leave out the cinnamon, and it makes a DELICIOUS vanilla almond granola! This might be a silly question, but is there a way I can make it without the oats? My mom is oat-free, and I’d love if she could enjoy the granola too! Thank you!!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      08.09.2021

      I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I’m not sure – another grain might be possible but other ingredients may have to change.

  6. stacey
    09.08.2020

    How many calories is this recipe??

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      09.12.2020

      I’m sorry, I don’t calculate nutritional info.

  7. Kristina
    04.05.2020

    Is it possible to use olive oil instead of coconut? Will the flavor be changed? Or maybe flaxseed oil?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      04.05.2020

      I use olive oil all the time! It might have a slight olive oil taste, but once it bakes it’s (in my opinion) not apparent. I’m not sure how flax oil would be, I feel like that might have a stronger flavor.

  8. Beth Ann
    01.15.2020

    The BEST and simplest I’ve ever made!
    Loving the clumpiness and almond butter nuttiness!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      01.17.2020

      I’m so glad you loved it!

  9. I love the maple and walnut combination in the granola. Also, I think adding coconut oil makes all the difference! Lovely recipe.

    • jeanine
      09.15.2014

      thanks! me too – I love coconut oil 🙂

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.