How to Make Granola at Home (Lower-Sugar Recipe)
Homemade granola is rolled oats, nuts and seeds tossed with a little honey or maple syrup, oil and cinnamon, then baked at 160°C (325°F) for 25–35 minutes and stirred so it browns evenly, as in Iowa State Extension's recipe. This version uses 3 tablespoons of honey for 300 g of oats, which works out at roughly 11 g of sugars per 100 g, medium on UK traffic-light labels and below most shop granolas.
Leave out the nuts if anyone eating it has a nut allergy, and use oats labelled gluten-free for coeliac disease.
Ingredients
- 300 g (about 3⅓ US cups) Rolled oats (porridge oats)Jumbo or ordinary rolled oats both work. Use oats labelled gluten-free for coeliac disease
- 75 g (about ½ cup) Mixed nuts, roughly choppedAlmonds, hazelnuts, pecans or walnuts. Swap for more seeds to make it nut-free
- 40 g (¼ cup) Pumpkin or sunflower seeds
- 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 1 (optional) Egg whiteWhisked until frothy, it helps the oats stick into clusters, as in Iowa State's recipe
- 3 tbsp (about 60 g) Honey or maple syrupNot for babies under 1 year if you use honey
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) Olive, rapeseed or sunflower oil
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) WaterHelps a small amount of honey coat all the oats, as in Montana State's recipe
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- Up to 40 g (¼ cup) Dried fruit, chopped (optional)Add after baking. It raises the sugar noticeably; fresh fruit at serving time doesn't add free sugars
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl and a whisk
- Large shallow baking tray, lined with baking paper or lightly oiled
- Spatula
- Wire rack
- Airtight jar or container
Method
Heat the oven
Heat the oven to 160°C (325°F), or 140°C fan, and line a large shallow baking tray with baking paper.1
Mix the dry ingredients
In a large bowl, stir together the oats, chopped nuts, seeds, cinnamon and salt.
Whisk the wet ingredients
In a jug, whisk the egg white (if using) until frothy, then whisk in the honey or maple syrup, oil, water and vanilla. Warm the honey briefly first if it is too thick to mix.1,2
Coat the oats
Pour the wet mixture over the oats and stir thoroughly until every flake looks lightly coated. Keep any dried fruit back and add it after baking, as Montana State's recipe does; in the oven it tends to harden and scorch.1,2
Spread thinly and bake
Spread the mixture in a thin, even layer, pressing it down lightly with the spatula if you want clusters. Bake for 25–35 minutes until golden brown, stirring gently every 10 minutes and checking more often near the end, as the edges brown first.1
Cool completely on the tray
Put the tray on a wire rack and leave the granola to cool completely without stirring; it crisps as it cools. Break it into pieces, then stir in any dried fruit.1,2
Store airtight
Tip the cold granola into an airtight jar or container. It freezes well if you make a double batch. Serve about 45 g (a scant ½ cup) with milk or yoghurt and fresh fruit.1,2
Safety
- Tree nuts, peanuts and sesame are common allergens. Leave them out, or swap in more pumpkin or sunflower seeds, if anyone eating it is allergic7
- Don't give granola made with honey to babies under 1 year; use maple syrup if it's for the whole family2
- Oats don't contain gluten but are often contaminated with it. For coeliac disease, use oats labelled gluten-free; a few people react to oats anyway8
- Let the granola cool fully before storing. Warm granola sealed in a jar steams and goes soft1
Variations
Replace the nuts with another 75 g of pumpkin and sunflower seeds, or add 2 tbsp of desiccated coconut near the end of baking. Check seed packs for 'may contain nuts' if the allergy is severe.
Montana State Extension's granola uses just 2 tbsp honey and 2 tbsp oil with ½ cup water for 4 cups of oats, baked at 130°C (265°F) and stirred every 20 minutes until golden. It is less clustered but has about 4 g of sugars per ½ cup.
Use the egg white, press the mixture firmly onto the tray before baking, and stir only once halfway. Leave it to cool untouched, then break it into chunks.
Add ½ tsp ground ginger and a pinch of nutmeg with the cinnamon, and serve with grated fresh apple instead of dried fruit.
Does it actually work?
The good part is the oats. They contain beta-glucan, a soluble fibre: US rules require rolled oats used in heart-health claims to supply at least 4%, and a meta-analysis of 28 trials found 3 g or more of oat beta-glucan a day lowered LDL cholesterol by about 0.25 mmol/L, a modest but reliable effect (see our oats entry). A 45 g bowl of this granola holds about 25 g of oats, roughly 1 g of beta-glucan, so a third of that daily amount.
The catch is sugar and energy. UK labels count more than 22.5 g of sugars per 100 g as high and 5 g or less as low, and adults should have no more than 30 g of free sugars a day, including honey and syrups. In an audit of 156 Australian supermarket granolas, the median was 14.2 g of sugars per 100 g, a quarter had 17.9 g or more, and granola had the most fat of any cereal type, against about 1 g of sugar per 100 g for plain oats.
By our arithmetic this recipe has about 11 g of sugars per 100 g, roughly 5 g per bowl, most of it from the honey: better than most, but still medium, not low. Add dried fruit and it moves towards the shop median. If sugar matters most to you, plain porridge is the lower-sugar way to eat oats.3,4,5,6
Evidence ratings for what goes in: Oats, Cinnamon, Honey, Olive oil.
Questions people ask
Is homemade granola healthier than shop-bought?
It can be, because you control the sugar. This recipe has about 11 g of sugars per 100 g against a median of 14.2 g in one large supermarket audit. But it is still a sweetened, energy-dense food: nuts and oil make it high in fat, so a 45 g bowl is a sensible portion.
How do I make granola clump together?
Whisk an egg white into the wet ingredients, as Iowa State Extension's recipe does, press the mixture onto the tray, stir less during baking and let it cool completely before you touch it. It crisps and sets as it cools.
How long does homemade granola last?
Kept in an airtight container at room temperature, we'd use it within about 2 weeks for the best crunch; it goes stale and soft before it goes off. It freezes well for longer storage.
Can I make granola without sugar or honey?
Yes, but it will be less crisp and won't cluster. Toss the oats, nuts and seeds with oil, cinnamon and a whisked egg white, bake the same way, and sweeten each bowl with fresh fruit. Montana State's version shows how little you need: 2 tbsp honey for 4 cups of oats.
Does granola lower cholesterol?
Oats can, modestly: about 3 g of oat beta-glucan a day lowered LDL cholesterol by about 0.25 mmol/L in trials. One bowl of this granola gives roughly a third of that, and it isn't a substitute for any treatment you've been prescribed.
Sources (8)
- University extension Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Spend Smart. Eat Smart. Crispy Granola.
- University extension Montana State University Extension, Buy Eat Live Better. Granola.
- Health service NHS. Sugar: the facts.
- Product audit Croisier E, Hughes J, Duncombe S, Grafenauer S. Back in Time for Breakfast: An Analysis of the Changing Breakfast Cereal Aisle. Nutrients. 2021.
- Regulation 21 CFR 101.81. Health claims: Soluble fiber from certain foods and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).
- Meta-analysis Whitehead A, Beck EJ, Tosh S, Wolever TM. Cholesterol-lowering effects of oat beta-glucan: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Am J Clin Nutr. 2014.
- Health service NHS. Food allergy.
- Health service NHS. Coeliac disease – Treatment.
Educational only. Patch-test anything new on your skin, and stop if it irritates.
Reader notes
Experiences and questions from readers, read by an editor before they appear. They are personal accounts, not evidence, and are not medical advice.