Matt and I are huge granola fans – Matt especially. He’d quite happily have crunchy granola clusters every morning, but the granola you find in the store is filled with added sugars and sweeteners, and just generally tastes kinda crap. Not to mention, it’s expensive!

As he’s picky about his granola (it has to be granola clusters, otherwise it’s just muesli!), he experimented with his own tasty granola recipe. I have to admit, it’s actually the best granola recipe I’ve seen. And it’s super easy to make!

Why granola?

Granola is a healthy and balanced breakfast that will keep you energised until lunch. Our healthy granola has a long list of health benefits. This is due to the number of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients in granola, including fibre, sodium, potassium, zinc, vitamin E, iron and phosphorus.

While most granola recipes add brown sugar, our easy granola recipe contains no added sugar at all, so you will not feel as sluggish after breakfast as you would with store-bought granola. A breakfast like this is perfect for enthusiastic travellers like us, especially if we’re going on a hike or a new adventure. And every day is a new adventure – so you don’t have to be on the road to enjoy this crunchy granola recipe!

The ingredients for this granola recipe and the preparation method are very simple. Even children will be happy to take part in cooking our homemade granola recipe. Besides the ingredients, all you need to make homemade granola clusters is a mixing bowl, a wooden spoon, an oven, a baking tray, baking paper, and of course, a smile.

Crunchy Granola Clusters Recipe

Yield: 6

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Cooling Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

If you're granola-lovers like us, then this crunchy granola clusters recipe will be your new go-to in the morning.

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Ingredients

• Rolled oats: 300 g
• Coconut oil (or any neutral-flavoured oil such as olive oil or avocado oil): 100ml
• Honey: 150 g
• Mixed nuts (chopped pecans, walnuts, almonds, cashews): 70 g
• Mixed dried fruit (cranberries, apricots, mango, strawberries, bananas): 70 g
• Mixed seeds (sunflower seeds, shredded coconut or coconut flakes, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, chia seeds): 30 g
• Cinnamon: 1-2 tsp
• Vanilla extract: 1 tsp

Instructions

1. First, prepare the ingredients needed and preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
   
   
   
2. Melt the coconut oil on the stove (or in the microwave for 1-2 minutes at 800 W) until the oil is completely melted. Don't raise the heat too high, just enough to melt the oil.
   
   
   
3. Mix the oats, nuts, and seeds in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle in the cinnamon and mix some more.
   
   
   
4. Add the vanilla extract and pour the honey into the oat mixture, stirring as you go to make sure all the oats are wet. Then add the coconut oil and mix again. The consistency should be moist so that you can easily form lumps with a spoon.
   
   
   
5. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper and spoon the granola mixture onto the tray. Spread it evenly across the baking tray, pressing it together with the back of the spoon so that it's compact and stays in one shape. After baking, this will ensure it forms tasty granola clusters.
6. Place in a preheated oven for 10 minutes.
7. After 10 minutes, you'll need to turn the granola over. Use the spoon to press the granola back into a flat and even mix. Press down so that the granola moulds together. Place it back in the oven for another 10 minutes.
   
   
   
8. The granola is ready when it is browned on the surface. If it still looks pale and moist, leave it in the oven for a few more minutes, but keep an eye on it because it can burn fast – especially in a fierce oven.
9. After the granola is baked, let it cool completely for around one hour at room temperature.
10. Break the cooled mixture into chunks of granola and mix with your chosen dried fruit. We love granola clusters mixed with dried strawberries, apricots, bananas, and sometimes mango or papaya, but you can choose whichever dried fruits you like best.
    
    
    
11. Enjoy your homemade granola clusters for breakfast! Store it in a dry, airtight container at room temperature.
    
    

Notes

Depending on your taste, you can mix granola with milk or yoghurt, and add seasonal fruits, fresh berries, or even chocolate chips if you're in a mood for chocolate. Usually we serve our homemade granola with oat milk or almond milk, and fresh blueberries and strawberries.

The best thing about our homemade granola clusters recipe is that you can be flexible. Fancy mixing things up a bit? Change which nuts, seeds, or dried fruits you include. We've experimented with everything from sesame seeds to dried figs. You can find some delicious combinations.

Depending on your oven, the baking time can vary from around 18 to 25 minutes in total. Keep your eye on it the first time to gauge how long it needs. Flip it over once it's starting to brown and make sure it's crispy enough and not moist when done.

To make the recipe vegan, you can swap honey for maple syrup (or any other syrup) and mix with plant milk or yoghurt.

FAQ ABOUT GRANOLA CLUSTERS

Is granola gluten-free?

If you are gluten-intolerant, you might wonder if granola is gluten-free. The answer is yes, if you use pure oats that are gluten-free. However, some oats suffer from contamination with gluten-based products so make sure you examine the packaging of your chosen oats before buying. You’ll often find gluten-free oats in the bio-section of supermarkets.

Is granola sugar-free?

Yes, our recipe does not contain added sugar. However, care must be taken when choosing dried fruits as they may contain added sugar due to the way they are processed.

If you’re buying granola from the supermarket, they almost always add light brown sugar or some other sugar substitute.

Muesli vs granola: What is the difference between granola and muesli?

The biggest difference is that granola is always baked, while muesli is not. Muesli is made from raw oats with added nuts and dried fruit. It’s almost exclusively served for breakfast, while granola can be enjoyed both as a breakfast cereal and a snack.

Also, muesli is usually poor in ingredients: they tend not to have many additional ingredients (nuts, berries, etc.) compared to granola. In addition, they often add a large amount of white refined sugar to give flavour.

Why is my granola not crunchy?

There might be several reasons for your honey granola clusters to lack a crunch. The main reason is usually not spreading the granola mixture out into an even thin layer on the baking sheet.

In other cases, the ratio of dry and wet ingredients may be wrong, but if you follow our recipe you should get ideal crunchy clusters.

Granola for diabetics? Yes or no?

If you use less natural sweetness and control the ingredients you use, then granola can be consumed in a diabetic diet, however, we would recommend consulting your doctor first.

Is granola keto?

Our homemade granola recipe is not keto-friendly, however you can make substitutes to certain ingredients to make it so. There are delicious granola recipes for those following a keto diet available.

When was granola invented?

Did you know that granola was invented by a priest? The American, Sylvester Graham, an advocate of dietetics, suggested making crunchy snacks from wholemeal flour. The first granola was launched in 1876, but Sylvester was clearly ahead of his time. It was pretty much forgotten about until almost 100 years later. In the 1960s, granola was reinvented using rolled oatmeal to make it.

Enjoy your crunchy granola clusters

While we’re sure you’ll love this granola recipe, it can’t hurt to have some variety. A good breakfast idea to mix things up is our yummy banana bites or Yelena’s specialty: syrniki. And if you love our crunchy granola recipe then check out our other oat-mazing recipe, chewy flapjacks! You can also take a look at our easy recipes page for more cooking inspiration.