When I was a kid, my mom would let my sister and I choose our own breakfast cereal. My favorite was Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but every once in a while I would have a bowl of my mom’s cereal. She frequently bought Great Grains. I didn’t care much for the flakes of cereal, but I absolutely loved the granola clusters. Today, granola is still one of my favorite cereals.
Over the years I have tried many kinds of granola, and while many of them were good, it was hard to find one that was great. Lots of them are overly crunchy, have weird fillers, have way too much added sugar, or are expensive. I’m a plain kind of girl, and I have very basic tastes when it comes to granola.
So, I set out to create my own recipe. I searched the internet for general ingredient ratios and baking times and came up with a fabulous and super easy granola recipe.
It only has six ingredients: oats, sliced almonds, coconut oil, honey, vanilla, and cinnamon. Aside from the oats, this is very easily customized. You could try walnuts or pecans instead of almonds, nut butter in place of coconut oil, maple syrup instead of honey, and the vanilla and cinnamon are optional (although there is no way I would leave them out). I’ve even added other ingredients from time to time. Sometimes I’ll add 1 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut, 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, or 1/2 cup of dried fruit (after baking). It’s all good, but this basic recipe is my favorite.
The only hard part in this recipe (and it’s not even really that hard) is mixing it by hand. And when I say “mixing by hand” I mean using my hands to mix the ingredients together in a large bowl. I’ve tried using a spoon, but it just doesn’t seem to work because the coconut oil stays in big clumps. It’s messy and sticky, but mixing with my hands seems to be the way to go.
After all the ingredients are mixed together, I just spread everything out on a baking sheet and pop it in the oven for 10 minutes. I have seen recipes where people bake their granola for close to an hour, but I prefer a chewy granola to a crunchy one, so 10 minutes is perfect. When it’s done and I open up the oven, it smells amazing!! My husband once thought I was baking cinnamon rolls.
Next, I leave it in the pan on the counter to cool completely, then put it in an air tight container. I’m not sure how long it lasts, because in my house it’s usually gone within a week.
Some of my favorite ways to enjoy this Easy Granola are:
- With warm milk, topped with sliced banana
- With cold milk, topped with any kind of berry
- Over greek yogurt (my favorite before-bed snack)
- Plain, by the handful, as a snack, any time
Easy Granola
Ingredients
- 3 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 cup sliced almonds
- 3 tbsp coconut oil
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
- Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.
- Spread evenly on baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Allow to cool. Store in an air tight container.
Thanks for checking out my recipe for Easy Granola! I hope you love it as much as I do!
“My son, eat honey, for it is good,
Proverbs 24:13-14
Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste;
Know that wisdom is thus for your soul;
If you find it, then there will be a future,
And your hope will not be cut off.”
~ Sarah ~
