This Homemade Cinnamon Granola recipe is an easy snack idea bursting with mild sweetness and crunchy goodness. Made with oats, honey, shredded coconut, dried cranberries, cinnamon, vanilla, and nuts, this is a healthy granola recipe your family will love.
Homemade Cinnamon Granola Recipe
Homemade Cinnamon Granola does the heart good. Its complex variety of flavors make it taste more like a satisfying sweet treat than a hearty, health-packed snack for the whole family. Eat it by itself plain between meals, mixed in with yogurt and fresh fruit for a parfait breakfast, or on top of your favorite ice cream for a rich and pleasantly surprising dessert.
This is a beautiful recipe because, even though there are quite a few ingredients, it comes together so simply and rapidly. Plus, you can change things up each time by adding different types of dried fruits or nuts, or using different spices and extracts! To really have some fun, toss in a handful of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips at the end of the baking period, so they just barely melt into the chunky granola pieces. Yum!
How long does homemade granola last?
Because all of the ingredients are pretty much self-preserving, granola can actually last for quite a while! Store it in a cool and dry area, like your pantry or even the fridge, in an airtight container for several months.
Is granola a healthy snack?
It sure is! Even the sweeteners, honey and vanilla extract, are natural, which makes this a great nutritious snack option, especially if you're craving something sweet. Cinnamon has anti-inflammatory properties, and oats and nuts pack some good protein and fiber in them.
Is it cheaper to make your own granola?
Oftentimes, it actually is cheaper to make your own granola. You'll have to buy more ingredients at first, but you may already have a lot of ingredients needed in this recipe on hand. Over time, it makes a lot more sense for those who are budgeters to make your own large batches of granola rather than spending 12 bucks over and over again on a pretty shrimpy-sized bag from the grocery store.
Cinnamon Granola Recipe
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Yield: 8 cups of granola 1x
Description
Cinnamon Granola is a simple snack that's bursting with mildly sweet and crunchy goodness, thanks to the oats, honey, shredded coconut, dried cranberries, cinnamon, vanilla, and nuts.
Ingredients
- 5 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup wheat germ
- 1 cup shredded coconut, (if you don't like it, add another cup of oats)
- ¾ cup whole wheat flour
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 cup honey
- 2 ½ tablespoons vanilla
- ¾ cup raisins or craisins to taste, optional
- 1 cup nuts (you can use sliced, whole, or chopped)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Line a big cookie sheet with parchment paper, and grease lightly.
- In a large bowl, combine your oats, wheat germ, coconut, flour, salt, and cinnamon.
- In a small bowl, whisk together your water, oil, honey, and vanilla.
- Pour the wet over the dry. Mix everything together, making sure there are no dry spots.
- Spread granola onto the prepared cookie sheet. The pan will be nice and full. Bake for about 1.5 hours total, stirring every 20 minutes to make sure everything bakes evenly. When you are stirring, don't get too crazy because you don't want to break up all of the clumps.
- When granola starts to turn a light golden color (about an hour into cooking), add your nuts and your dried fruit. Continue cooking, until everything is a nice golden color, taking care not to burn the nuts. The granola will still be slightly sticky when you take it out and will crisp up after it cools.
- Store in an airtight container.
Notes
- You can change up the flavor of this granola really easily by switching out the cinnamon for something like pumpkin or apple pie spice or adding other spices, like cloves, nutmeg, or all-spice, to the cinnamon.
- You can use half vanilla extract and half almond extract for a different flavor variation, too; it's excellent.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 90 min
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: granola, homemade granola, how to make granola, granola recipe, healthy granola recipe, healthy breakfast idea
For more homemade granola recipes, check out:
- My Favorite Blueberry Pecan Granola Bar Recipe
- Healthy Honey Coconut Granola Recipe
- Extra Chunky and Naturally Sweetened Granola with Walnuts
- Healthy Homemade Granola
- 8 Easy Homemade Granola Bar Recipes You Should Try TODAY
- The Best Chocolate Chip Granola Bar Recipe
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Granola Bars
This post was originally published in 2010 and has been updated and rephotographed in May 2019.
Sonia
Can I substitute the coconut oil with something else?
Melissa
Yep, any fat/oil will work, melted butter, canola, vegetable, whatever you like.