Simple Granola Recipe: The Best Quick & Easy Granola

Everyone needs a good, simple granola recipe—one that’s easy to make, perfectly crunchy, and just sweet enough.

Make a batch today, and you’ll never go back to store-bought!

A simple granola recipe is a must for everyone. Granola is a great snack to have available at all times. You can snack on it as is or make a meal out of it with some fruit and yogurt.

Why You’ll Love Making Homemade Granola:

• Making your own granola gives you the chance to make it exactly how you like it. Don’t like nuts? Love raisins? Want to add cinnamon? You are in charge! It’s fully customizable to what you have on hand, and the sky is the limit with the flavoring.
• Skipping the store-bought stuff not only allows you to control sweetness and flavor, but it also lets you know exactly what goes in it. Plus, you can enjoy it when it’s at its freshest and crispiest.
• It takes no time! You’ll be able to put together a large batch in under 30 minutes. It’ll last you a while, and you won’t be able to stop snacking on it.

This Granola Recipe Is Super Forgiving

You can use any combo and amount of ingredients you have available at home. From nuts to seeds and dried fruits, let your imagination—and pantry—guide you. In fact, the more variety you use, the better. You want to achieve a nice combo of textures and flavors to make sure each bite is interesting and fun.

DIY Granola

Granola is such a homey thing to make—it fills your home with a crazy good smell, like a cozy bakery.

Gifting homemade granola to your friends is the perfect homemade DIY gift. You can customize the nuts, dried fruits, and flavors according to what your loved ones prefer.

You can have fun with the packaging as well, picking cute jars and adding ribbons, tags, and stickers.

Who doesn’t like a DIY project that includes food?

Vegan Granola

This granola recipe is totally vegan. Since you can customize everything, you can easily make it to your own preferences. The way it’s made in this post, with coconut oil and maple syrup, is completely vegan-friendly.

Ingredients

The perfect granola includes a mix of flavors and textures so each bite is different.

You want to have a good mix of different nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and spices.

1. Oats: Use rolled oats (or whole oats), not the quick-cooking kind. This will help the oats hold their shape and provide the perfect texture and crunch.
2. Oil: Choose any oil you like, such as coconut oil, any neutral-flavored oil, or olive oil for a unique taste.
3. Sweetener: Maple syrup, honey, date syrup, or even agave nectar work great for sweetening the granola. Pick your favorite! Note that if you use darker-colored sweeteners like date syrup, your granola will brown faster, so you’ll need to keep a closer eye on it.
4. Nuts: Feel free to use any nuts you have on hand! Mix and match almonds, cashews, pecans, pistachios, walnuts, macadamias, hazelnuts, and more. You can add them whole or cut them into smaller pieces. Note that nuts tend to burn easily, so try cutting them into even pieces as much as possible and keep an eye on them. Also, it’s very important to use raw nuts—not toasted or salted.
5. Seeds: Choose any seeds you like—sesame, flax, poppy, pumpkin, sunflower, or even chia seeds. Coconut shreds are also a tasty addition. These add so much texture and crunch! Don’t even think about skipping them—they add another layer of flavor to your granola.
6. Spices: If you love the sweet-salty combo as much as I do, a pinch of salt is essential. It’s what makes this granola so addictive! You can also add cinnamon, pumpkin spice, vanilla extract, cardamom, ginger, or any spices that you like.
7. Dried Fruits: This is the fun part! Choose from dried apricots, raisins, cranberries, cherries, blueberries, or get tropical with banana and papaya—the possibilities are endless! They add such a deep, sweet, delicious flavor. I like to cut them relatively small so you get fruit in every bite. You will love the bites that have several fruits in them—they’re the real treat!

Simple Granola Recipe | Tips

1. Don’t burn it: Take your granola out of the oven when it’s golden, not browned. Don’t worry if it doesn’t seem crispy yet—it’ll crisp up as it cools!
2. Add dried fruit last: Adding the dried fruits right after the granola comes out of the oven helps keep them soft and chewy. Also, it’s crucial to do it this way so they don’t burn. Since dried fruits have so much sugar (even the natural ones), they burn easily and will taste bitter.
3. Chocolate lover’s twist: Add a heaping tablespoon of cocoa powder before baking for a rich, chocolatey flavor, or mix in chopped chocolate after it cools. This is such a great addition! You’ll love those chocolate nuggets in there—they add a whole new layer of flavor and texture.
4. Keep it crunchy: If your granola starts to soften after a couple of days, pop it back in the oven for a few minutes to regain that perfect crisp. This can happen if you don’t seal it properly or if it’s the last bit sitting on the counter for a while.
5. Storage tip: Keep your granola in an airtight container to maintain its freshness. It stays crunchy for up to 10 days—if it lasts that long!

Follow my simple formula—oats, oil, sweetener, nuts, seeds, spices, and dried fruits—and you’ll nail it every time! This easy recipe gives you a go-to granola that’s always perfectly crunchy and delicious!

This post was all about the best simple granola recipe. I hope you give it a try—it’s a great, healthy snack to keep on hand! I’d love to know what flavor combinations you come up with :).