If you ever wanted to learn how to make your own cost-efficient granola, now’s the time! My Homemade Granola Clusters are surprisingly simple to make, more cost-effective than those overpriced grocery bags of granola and it tastes AMAZING. Plus, you can control the ingredients!
I am a granola person.
Well, yes and no. In that I love granola, yes. In that I live in a yurt with crystals, no.
When I was a kid, I disliked granola and trail mix and things like that because they always had ingredients in them I couldn’t stand, like dried fruit. Dried fruit is my arch-nemesis. I can’t stand the stuff, be it raisins (gross on their own accord), pineapple, or apricots. Hate it ALL. Also, the ratio of dried fruit to chocolate candies was WAY off. Who wants more fruit than chocolate? Not I.
But nowadays there are as many different types of granola as there are religions in this world – literally one for each and every person and their unique preferences. Don’t like nuts? Get a fruity granola. But don’t like strawberries? Get one with blueberries. The possibilities and options are endless.
It may be hard to believe, but I’m pretty traditional when it comes to my food. Sure, if I’m out at a blog event I’ll try Top Chef-level avant garde dishes, but when it comes down to it, I like the classics. I may wear tutus, sparkles, glitter and rainbows on a daily basis, but when it comes to my food I’m no frills and kinda conservative. I know, what a let-down right? So when it comes to granola, I like things plain and simple. But don’t think “plain” means flavorless or boring. It just means I like really delicious food done right that doesn’t need bells and whistles to jazz it up or detract from its simplicity.
However major my granola obsession, I always hate buying it at the store. It’s ridiculously overpriced when you can make a GINORMOUS batch of it at home to use throughout the week. The biggest “cost” for Homemade Granola Clusters is up front purchasing all the bulk ingredients. But once you have your oats, honey, and mix-ins, you can make this recipe over and over again. The best part is, this recipe makes clusters which are those addictive chunks of granola, aka the BEST part.
While MY particular recipe here uses slivered almonds as its add-in, feel free to try any of these other options:
- Dried fruits, such as: apricots, pineapple tidbits, raisins, cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, banana chips, coconut chips or shredded coconut, mangoes
- Nuts, such as: slivered almonds, shelled pistachios, walnut halves, pecan halves, chopped peanuts
- Seeds, such as: shelled sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds
- After baking additions, such as: chocolate chips, miniature M&M’s, miniature peanut butter cups, freeze-dried fruits
Enjoy!
Homemade Granola Clusters
Ingredients
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon can scale back the cinnamon to 1/2 teaspoon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 & 1/2 cups slivered almonds or another mix-in of your choice. Nuts and dried fruits can bake with the granola, but chocolate products need to be added later
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment paper; set aside.
- In a large bowl, gently whisk together the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, honey and vanilla extract until combined and smooth. Pour the oil mixture over the oat mixture, then toss in the slivered almonds or mix-ins of your choice. Mix the whole bowl together, tossing to coat until all of the granola is coated in the oil mixture.
- Spread the mixture into an even layer on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the granola is very light golden brown and fragrant. Cool COMPLETELY before breaking into clusters with your fingers. (If using a chocolate product, I would sprinkle the still-warm granola with the chocolate chips (for example) before it cooled completely before breaking into clusters). Store airtight in a container at room temperature for about 1 week.
I love how sweet and simple these homemade granola clusters are to make!
Want more for breakfast? Check out these recipes!
Best Ever Blueberry Banana Bread
Have a great week!
xo, Hayley
Hotmail login account says
Gotta try this recipe when I finish my granola, thank you for sharing!
Vicki Morrison Goble says
Will this work without the brown sugar?
thedomesticrebel says
Hi Vicki, the brown sugar adds some sweetness but you could omit it or substitute with a sugar sub like coconut sugar or a brown sugar Splenda if you’d like.
Melanie says
This is so good. The only change I made was adding 2 tablespoons of butter to the oil bc mine appeared to be a little dry. Turned out great! Made it three more times.