Build your own HEALTHY homemade granola! Customize this granola with whatever fruits, nuts and seeds you love. Full of flavours and nutrients!
Granola is often eaten in combination with yogurt or milk, fresh fruit (such as bananas or fresh berries), or eaten as is as snack. It is full of nutrition and easy to store. It also keeps you full for a long time, so perfect for the morning breakfast kickstart.
This Easy Homemade Granola is made with oats, nuts, dried fruits, butter/coconut oil and sweetened with honey and jaggery. It’s much cheaper than store-bought, it’s naturally sweetened and so flavorful!
I had almonds, dried cranberries, dried blueberries, dried pineapple, pumpkin seeds and watermelon seeds in my pantry – so that’s what you see in my granola pictures.
Key Ingredients that go into homemade Granola –
Oats
Old-fashioned, rolled oats hold their shape while baking. Oats are a great source of fiber and antioxidants. Use gluten-free oats if you want to keep this recipe free of gluten.
I have used these brands True Elements and Graminway and both turned out good.
Nuts & Seeds
Nuts provide the crunch and despite being high in fat, they are a great source for several nutrients, including vitamin E, magnesium, and selenium.
Fats
You can use unrefined oil like cold pressed coconut oil, or even butter as the source of fat. They’ll coat the oats and nuts and provide amazing flavor. Peanut butter (or other nut butters) is another popular flavour in granola.
Sweeteners
The best part about making your granola at home is you can control what kind of sugar you add to this. Go for the maple syrup (if vegan) or honey. I also add a little jaggery powder that gets caramelized and coats some of the oats and nuts for extra earthy flavor.
Dried Fruits
You can add other sources of sweeteners and hence reduce the need to add a lot of maple syrup or honey. Dried fruits like cranberries, blueberries, raisins, apricots are popular additions to granola. They provide almost the same nutrition as their fresh counterparts and are rich in micro-nutrients and antioxidants.
Others
Salt (a must to balances flavours)
Spices like Cinnamon, dried ginger powder etc.
Chocolate Chips
Coconut Flakes
Orange Zest
For the perfect crunchy granola with chunks, use the right size baking sheet (so that the granola is clumped together a little), line your baking sheet with parchment paper (so the liquids coat the granola instead of sticking to the pan), use enough wet ingredients, don’t over-bake and let them cool completely for the caramel to harden.
How to Customize Granola to your liking?
Use this proportion to customize your granola – 4 cups oats + 1 cup nuts + 1/2 cup seeds + 1/2 cup melted coconut oil/butter + 1/2 cup honey/maple syrup + 1 cup chopped dried fruits and other add-ins + 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp spices.
Do check out other healthy recipes on the blog without any refined flour or refined sugar.
Video on how to make Granola
Check out my first video on how to make Granola on Instagram! Like, comment & share!
Follow me on Instagram @noopurs_kitchen. Don’t forget to click, share and tag @noopurs_kitchen when you try this recipe out! I love looking at all your creations.
Homemade Granola
Ingredients
- 400 g old-fashioned rolled oats – 4 cups
- 100 g almonds roughly sliced – 1 cup
- 50 g mixed seeds – like pumpkin, watermelon, sunflower. Skip and replace with 1/2 cup nuts
- 115 g unsalted butter or cold pressed virgin coconut oil – 1/2 cup
- 150 g honey or maple syrup – 1/2 cup
- 75 g dried fruits – like raisins, cranberries, blueberries etc.
- 50 g chocolate chips
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp cinnamon – optional
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 30 g powdered jaggery – optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper and keep aside.
- In a large bowl, combine oats, nuts, seeds, jaggery, salt, spices. Mix well.
- In a saucepan, melt the butter and honey together till combined. Do not boil. Remove from heat and add vanilla and stir.
- Pour the liquid into the bowl and mix until well coated. Transfer to the baking sheet and spread it evenly with a spatula.
- Bake the granola at 180°C for 20-25 minutes. Halfway through, remove from the oven and stir it gently, add the coconut flakes at this stage to toast them too. Remove from the oven when the granola is evenly light brown across. It will harden as it cools.
- If adding chocolate chips, add them when granola is still hot so it melts a little. If you want full chocolate chips then add it when granola is completely cool.
- Once the granola is cooled down slightly, add the dried fruits and mix gently. Let it cool completely. Break the granola into chunks or use a spatula to break it up. It will last 3-4 weeks when stored in an air-tight container.
Can we use powdered sugar if no powdered jaggery also will honey not stick to parchment paper during baking
Yes you can. Honey won’t stick to the paper.