How to Make Crispy Whole Grain Granola
If you ask me, granola is all about crunch. Whether you sprinkle it over your favorite tangy yogurt, drown it in creamy milk or stud your favorite smoothie bowl with it, granola is the antidote to one-note, soggy breakfasts. This recipe is designed for optimal crunch and cluster. Maple syrup and olive oil coat the grains and nuts to produce clumps of all sizes, to please the full range of breakfasters you may be feeding.
The must-do steps to achieving crispy granola clusters
There are two important keys to ultra-crisp whole grain flakes in your granola. First, use a low oven temperature. 300°F gives you the gentle, low-and-slow bake time the oats need to crisp up.
Second, mix everything very well before you spread the ‘nola out on your sheet pans. You want every nut, grain and oat to be completely coated in the liquid ingredients. then, when you spread everything out as evenly as possible, using as many sheet pans as you can fit into your oven (note: you always need more sheet pans), do not mix! I repeat: do not mix the granola once it’s on the sheet pan. Spread it out, and leave it until the cereal is fully cool! you have to give the granola time to form its bonds and clusters. Disturbing the grains will only give you powdery granola that all but disappears in your yogurt.
How to mix & match to find your granola profile
This is a very forgiving, easy to improvise recipe. As long as you follow the rules above (low oven temp and mixing in the bowl and NEVER AGAIN), you really can’t mess up this clustery granola recipe. I like to stock my granola full of nuts, grains and seeds. I generally use whatever I have on hand. At the very least, I usually have bags of almonds and walnuts in my freezer. Toss those in. But if you’re more of a pistachio, hazelnut, pecan or even Brazil nut kind of person, any nut will work.
When it comes to grains, granola is an excellent way to sneak healthy things like flax seeds, wheat germ and sesame seeds into your diet. Of course, these aren’t mandatory ingredients.
And at the end, when it’s finally safe to (carefully) collect the granola clusters from their sheet pan, you can go wild with mix-ins like dried fruit. Avoid adding the dried fruit before baking, as it will dry out too much.
How to naturally sweeten homemade granola
I like to keep my recipe simple with basically two liquid ingredients: a sweetener (typically maple syrup) and olive oil. The olive gives extra crunch and a nice flavor too. Other liquid sweeteners, such as honey or agave are also fine to use. I also like to add a dash of vanilla extract, which is lovely with maple. It’s fun to experiment with other extracts, if you have them on hand. Almond, for example, is delightful!
Fun granola combinations
Pistachios + Dried Cherries, Dates & Chopped Apricots + Cardamom
Pumpkin Seeds + Dried Cranberries + Cinnamon & Nutmeg
Hazelnuts + Cocoa Powder
Almonds + Almond Extract + Dried Cherries
Crispy + Clustery Whole Grain Granola Recipe
Ingredients
4 cups rolled oats
1 cup whole flax seed
1 cup milled wheat germ
1 cup almonds, roughly chopped
1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
¾ tsp cinnamon
1 cup coconut flakes
½ cup olive oil
½ cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
Dried fruit of choice, optional
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 300°F.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, flax, wheat germ, almonds, walnuts, salt, cinnamon, and coconut flakes.
Combine the olive oil and maple syrup in a measuring cup and drizzle over the oat mixture. Add the vanilla and combine well.
Spread the granola as evenly as possible between 2, or 3 if you have them, baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, rotate the sheets, bake for another 10 minutes. Then turn the oven off and leave the granola in the oven to crisp for 10-15 minutes more. Let the granola cool fully on the baking sheets, resisting the urge to stir, before adding the optimal dried fruit and storing in an airtight container.