Home Made Honey Baked Granola

Deliciously crunchy and perfectly sweet, my homemade Honey Baked Granola will become your favourite go-to breakfast!  

I love a good granola -it's my healthy go-to option for breakfast, with just a little bit sprinkled over a bowl of yogurt and fresh fruit.  And IMO this is the best Granola recipe out there!  It's super easy to make your own granola, with basic ingredients that can be substituted to your favourite dried fruit, nuts and seeds.  It's the perfect granola, loaded with all the good stuff and is far superior to any store-bought granola, as you control what goes into it. I make it in bulk every year, as it makes the best Christmas present ever.  It's super delicious and it has a long expiration date, especially if you gift it in sealed, food-safe bags.  My friends and family hang out for this stuff every year and you're about to discover why.  I know you're going to love this healthy homemade Granola recipe!

Why You Will Love This Recipe

• It's golden and crunchy
• Tastes like an Anzac cookie on steroids!
• The house smells divine when it's baking.
• It's made with simple ingredients and you can swap out different nuts and berries for your own favourites.
• Honey Baked Granola is perfect for gifting (and is very well received).

Ingredients

This is my base recipe, but feel free to swap some of the ingredients to suit your own tastes

• unsalted butter
• golden syrup and honey (both natural sweeteners) and give a great chewy texture
• raw sugar
• sea salt flakes
• vanilla extract
• cinnamon 
• rolled oats (old-fashioned rolled oats, not the quick oats)
• pecans
• raw cashews
• flaked almonds
• shredded coconut (unsweetened coconut flakes)
• pistachios
• dried cranberries

Substitutions and Additions

• Golden syrup:  try maple syrup instead.  Use real maple syrup, not the flavoured stuff.  
• Raw sugar:  it gives a lightly golden flavour.  Coconut sugar will give a lovely flavour as well.  White sugar is fine and brown sugar will add a caramel flavour, but it will be stickier (great if you want to make homemade granola bars!)
• Cinnamon:  you could use your own spice blend -my Speculaas Spice Mix will make this granola extra festive
• Pecans, cashews and flaked almonds:  swap any of these for macadamia nuts, walnuts or hazelnuts or your favourite type of nuts
• Coconut flakes:  I think they're delicious, but you can swap these out for sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds or flax seeds.
• Pistachios:  are added at the end and can be swapped for any other toasted nut
• Cranberries:  can be swapped for any other dried fruit
• Chocolate version:  once the baked granola has cooled to room temperature, throw some chocolate chips into the mix

Step By Step Instructions

• Preheat oven to 110° fan forced.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, pecans, cashews, flaked almonds, shredded coconut and cinnamon, then set aside
• Line a large baking sheet or sheet pan with baking paper (parchment paper)
• In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, syrup and honey, sugar and salt. Mix until the sugar has melted, then stir through the vanilla
• In a large bowl, combine the oats, pecans, cashews, almonds and coconut and cinnamon
• Pour the melted wet ingredients over the combined dry ingredients and stir to combine
• Spread mixture in an even layer onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes.
• After 25 minutes, stir the granola on the tray so that it can cook evenly. Bake for another 20-25 minutes, until golden.
• Remove tray from oven and tip granola onto your clean benchtop.
• Mix through the pistachios and cranberries.
• Allow to cool, then store in an airtight container

Tips and Tricks

• For a clumpy granola, don't break it up as much during the cooking process.
• Every oven bakes differently, so you may need to adjust the cooking time to suit (I always cook mine a little longer at home, but my oven at the beach seems to cook it faster)
• The granola mixture will get crunchy as it cools, so don't be tempted to over-bake it

Serving Suggestions

• Served with yogurt and Spiced Vanilla Poached Pears
• Make a parfait with Breakfast Panna Cotta and fresh berries.
• Add it to smoothies for extra sweetness and texture.
• Sprinkle on top of smoothie bowls.
• Keep it chunky and enjoy it as a healthy snack.

Storage

• Airtight container: for about 1 month
• Heat-sealed bags: will keep this granola fresher for up to 3 months

I really hope you love this recipe -it really is the best homemade granola recipe out there!  I'd love to hear what you think, so if you try this recipe, I'd love it if you could  take a minute to leave a rating or review -it helps to get my recipes seen and for me to keep sharing them with you.