How to Make Granola? 8 variants!

how to make granola
how to make granola

Making granola is easy to do and fun too. In addition, it is also healthier, because you know exactly what you have put in it. And those aren’t preservatives! In this blog, we discuss how to make granola in many different ways.

The 8 basic ingredients: oat flakes, nuts, seeds, coconut, sweeteners, oil, spices and dried fruit or chocolate. Mix dry ingredients and heat the oil and agave. Combine ingredients and roast at 180 degrees. Add dried fruit and/or chocolate.

This is briefly how granola is made. There is of course a lot more to tell about it and we will do that below.

Do you know the difference between nuts and seeds? No, then you can read our blog ‘ Difference between nuts and seeds ‘ and be surprised!

Granola Recipe

Making granola is fun to do and it always starts with the ingredients. Now we can use a lot of ingredients to make the granola. To make it easy for you I have divided them into groups. From this you can make a choice for your own favorite granola recipe. By the way, several granola recipes are discussed below. You can use this right away or adjust a few ingredients for your own granola recipe.

Granola Recipe

Granola Recipe

The basic groups are:

  1. oat flakes. These are always used in granola.
  2. Choose your own favorites for this, but make sure they are unroasted and unsalted.
  3. Choose the seeds you like.
  4. Usually added but this ingredient can be omitted.
  5. Think of Maple Syrup or Agave Syrup (these are great alternatives to bee honey).
  6. Oil or coconut fat for roasting
  7. Spices of your choice to flavor it, such as cinnamon or vanilla extract.
  8. Dried fruit. Only add oats and nuts after roasting.

These are the 8 basic ingredients that you can combine with. You can of course omit a basic ingredient and this will not affect the taste of your granola. Sometimes you have to leave out ingredients like with a nut allergy! Experiment and have fun.

Make your own granola

The following tasty granola with the 8 basic ingredients. What and how much do you need for this?

  • Oatmeal, 150 grams
  • Walnuts, 75 grams
  • Sunflower seeds, 50 grams
  • Coconut flakes, 50 grams
  • 4 tbsp agave or maple syrup
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp cinnamon powder
  • Handful of raisins

Preparation method of Granola

What do we have to do to make granola from the ingredients? This goes like this:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
  2. Roughly chop the nuts and place in a large bowl.
  3. Add all the other dry ingredients and mix well.
  4. Place a pan on the heat source and heat the vegetable oil and agave syrup so that it is more liquid.
  5. Add the oil and maple syrup to the dry ingredients and mix well.
  6. Place a sheet of baking paper on the baking tray and spread the granola on the baking paper.
  7. Place the baking tray in the oven and roast for 20 – 25 minutes. Stir the granola halfway through so that everything is toasted evenly.
  8. Let the granola cool.

Add one or two handfuls of raisins or other dried fruit and your granola is ready. This is the principle of making granola.

One more time in short; choose your ingredients, mix them together, roast for 20 minutes at 180 degrees in the oven, add dried fruit or berries after cooling.

Making Low Carb Granola

If you eat low-carb and also want to eat granola, it is often difficult to find in the supermarket. An alternative is to make it yourself. This way you know what you eat because you determine the ingredients yourself.

A sweetener such as maple or an agave syrup is used to make granola. You can replace this by adding 90 grams of liquid sweetener to 150 grams of oatmeal.

There are also syrup substitutes such as Stevia sweet maple for sale that you can add as a substitute for maple or agave syrup. Walden Farm syrups can also be used as a substitute.

As a recipe, I want to give you the following idea. As mentioned before, you can play with the ingredients. The ingredients are:

  • 100 grams of oat flakes
  • 3 tbsp melted coconut oil
  • 15 grams Stevia sweetener liquid
  • 100 grams pumpkin seeds
  • 150 grams coarsely chopped unsalted nut melange
  • 50 grams of linseed
  • 50 grams coconut chips
  • 4 tbsp Stevia Sweet Maple
  • 1 tsp biscuit & Speculaas spices
  • Pinch of salt

Above in the chapter ‘Preparation Method Making Granola’, it is described how you can make delicious low-carb granola. Replace the sugar with sweetener and you’re good to go.

Making Granola Healthy

Healthy food and good food go hand in hand. Often the thought that healthy is not tasty, this is a real misconception. Healthy and tasty do go hand in hand.

 

If you want to eat healthily

Making Granola Healthy

Making Granola Healthy

, granola is definitely an option. The nutrition center even has a recipe for it, which they call ‘a healthy start to your day’. The ingredients are the following:

  • 75 grams of hazelnuts
  • 250 grams of oatmeal
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 75 grams of dried apricots, dates, plums or apples
  • 75 grams of broken linseed
  • 50 grams of raisins
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon, biscuit spices or ginger powder

The preparation of granola is described in the above chapter ‘How to prepare granola’. The only change is that only the hazelnuts and oatmeal are roasted together with the oil. The other ingredients are added after cooling. When the dried fruit is large, I recommend cutting it into small pieces.

Making Granola Bars / Bar

Do you want to take granola to work, the gym or just as a tasty snack? Then make a granola bar. Or actually several bars. Tasty and healthy. The difference between granola and granola bar is that with granola the mixture is placed loosely on the baking tray and with a granola bar it is pressed into a mold.

Making Granola Bars

Making Granola Bars

You can use the recipe below as an example, but as mentioned before you can of course switch ingredients. Try and experiment loosely. The ingredients are:

  • 150 g oatmeal
  • 75 g almonds, chopped
  • 2 tsp sunflower seeds
  • 100 g peanut butter
  • 3 tbsp coconut oil
  • 4-5 tablespoons agave or maple syrup
  • 6 g dried cranberries
  • 2 tsp chia seeds
  • 20 g shaved coconut

The granola bars are made as follows:

  1. Place baking paper on the baking tray and place the oatmeal, almonds and sunflower seeds on it. Place the baking tray in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes.
  2. Then the peanut butter, coconut oil and agave syrup go into a saucepan and we heat this. Stir the mixture well.
  3. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and toss the toasted ingredients into a bowl. Then add the peanut butter mixture and mix everything well.
  4. Then add the chia seeds, cranberries and shredded coconut and stir well again.
  5. Take an oven dish and line it with baking paper and then put the granola mixture in it. Press it down with the back of a wet ladle.
  6. Carefully cut all bars and then place the dish in the refrigerator. Let the bowl cool for at least 12 hours.
  7. Then cut the strips again.

This is an easy way to make granola bars. You can also replace ingredients in this recipe. As said before, experiment and indulge.

Making granola without nuts

Granola contains 8 basic ingredients. One of the basic ingredients are nuts. However, this is not a ‘must’! If you have a nut allergy or nuts are just not your ‘thing’, you can leave them out without consequences.

If you omit the nuts, you can add extra seeds, for example. This gives your granola extra filling and extra flavor. The ingredients you can use for nut-free granola are:

  • Oatmeal, 150 grams
  • Almonds, 75 grams
  • Sunflower seeds, 50 grams
  • Coconut flakes, 50 grams
  • 4 tbsp agave or maple syrup
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp cinnamon powder
  • Handful of raisins

With this recipe you get delicious granola without nuts. But like I say all along, play with the ingredients. If there’s something you don’t like, replace it with something else. For example, you can substitute cinnamon powder for vanilla extract. Try and experiment.

For the preparation of this granola I refer to the above chapter ‘Preparation Method Making Granola’. Follow the directions and you have made a delicious granola.

Making Granola without Sugar

If you want granola without sugar, you can replace it with a liquid sweetener. Normally maple or agave syrup is used which provides the sweet and the sticky. If you do not want these sweeteners, you can replace them with a Stevia product, for example. Stevia sweet maple is a good vegetable substitute.

Making Granola without Sugar

Making Granola without Sugar

To help you on your way, you can use the following recipe:

  • 150 grams of oatmeal
  • 50 grams of chopped unsalted nuts
  • 50 grams of sunflower or pine nuts or pumpkin seeds or a mix of these three seeds.
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil or sunflower oil
  • 3 tbsp Stevia Sweet maple
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 75 gr raisins and cranberries

The preparation method is easy and fun to do. It is described in the above chapter ‘How to prepare Granola’. Follow the steps and you will have delicious granola without sugar.

As an alternative recipe you can also use the recipe described in the chapter ‘Making granola low in carbohydrates’.

Making Granola with Chocolate

Making chocolate granola is similar to making granola. Finally, broken dark chocolate is added to the roasted nuts, seeds and oatmeal.

Making Granola with Chocolate

Making Granola with Chocolate

However, for extra taste we also add cocoa powder. The recipe is the following:

  • 200 grams of oat flakes
  • 40 grams of unsalted almonds
  • 40 grams unsalted hazelnuts
  • 15 grams of cocoa powder
  • 1 tbsp vanilla aroma
  • 3 tbsp agave or maple syrup
  • 25 ml coconut oil
  • 50 grams of dark chocolate, broken into pieces and chopped

Preparing this granola is the same as preparing any granola. However, the chocolate pieces are added at the end, when the granola has cooled.

For preparation, I refer to the above chapter ‘Preparation Method Making Granola’. It describes exactly what you have to do.

Making Gluten-Free Granola

Today, gluten-free is also becoming easier and easier. You can also make granola gluten-free. Look at all the recipes described above and replace the oat flakes with gluten-free oat flakes. Gluten-free is explicitly stated on the packaging.

You can also use other flakes such as soy flakes. Again, try and experiment. See what you like and what is fun to make.

So, now you know more about making granola. Good luck!

 

Abbas Jahangir

I am a researcher and writer with a background in food and nutritional science. I am the founder of Foodstrend.com, our reputable online platform offering scientifically-backed articles on health, food, nutrition, kitchen tips, recipes, diet, and fitness. With a commitment to providing accurate and reliable information, we strive to empower our readers to make informed decisions about their health and lifestyle choices. Join us on Foodstrend.com's journey toward a healthier and happier lifestyle.

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