The Ultimate Healthy Homemade Granola

 

 
During the week, my parents love eating granola for breakfast. My dad eats his plain and dry or stirs it into Greek yogurt. My mom adds hers to a bowl with multigrain flakes, a handful of fresh blueberries, and a generous splash of unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

When I recently visited them for a week, I thought it’d be fun to surprise them with a batch of homemade granola. I wanted a flavor that they could both enjoy — something that paired well with tangy yogurt and sweet juicy blueberries — but also tasted delicious all by itself, for the mornings where my dad simply poured it into a bowl.
 

 
I also wanted to make sure the granola had lots of big clusters. It’s so disappointing to stick your spoon into a bowl and only manage to fish out a few flakes of oats!

Finally, I wanted something that was really quick and simple to whip up. I didn’t feel like standing in front of the stove to baby-sit a bubbling pot and waiting for the liquid mixture to reduce. I much prefer the “one bowl, whisk everything together, and call it good enough” method of making granola!
 

 
So that’s how this ultimate healthy homemade granola came to be! I tested it a few times to make sure I got it just right before I left… And the batch I brought up for my parents completely disappeared by my final day.

I’d call that a good sign — and a fantastic compliment! 😉
 

 

QUICK OVERVIEW – THE ULTIMATE HEALTHY HOMEMADE GRANOLA

Recipe difficulty: Pretty easy, including for most beginner bakers!
Taste: Lightly sweetened with a warm, cozy cinnamon flavor.
Texture: Crunchy — with lots of really big clusters!
 

 

INGREDIENTS TO MAKE THE ULTIMATE HEALTHY HOMEMADE GRANOLA

You only need 5 ingredients to make this easy homemade granola recipe! Those are…

Oats. Both old-fashioned rolled oats and quick cooking oats (aka instant oats or one-minute oats!) work. Use certified gluten-free oats if you’d like to make this cinnamon granola gluten-free!

Rice cereal. This adds crunch! I like using brown rice cereal (like this) because it’s whole grain and often has a short recognizable ingredient list. Regular crisp rice cereal (like Rice Krispies!) works perfectly too.
 

 
Egg whites. They actually bind the ingredients together! That way, this healthy granola is oil free, lower calorie, and low fat — yet it still has lots of big crunchy clusters. The egg whites add a protein boost too!

Hint: No… You do NOT end up with bits of scrambled eggs in your granola. When you make chocolate chip cookies, you don’t end up with bits of scrambled eggs in those, right? Same thing here! If you whisk everything together really well, you won’t find any egg bits in your finished granola.
 

 
Sweetener. I like using pure maple syrup, but honey and agave work well too.

Hint: All of these are unrefined sweeteners, so your cinnamon granola will have no refined sugar! Depending on which one you use, your granola may end up a darker brown than what you see in my photos. That’s normal and okay! As long as your granola is dark brown — but not black! — you haven’t burned it. 😉

Cinnamon. Saigon is my favorite for this homemade cinnamon granola recipe because it has a richer, stronger, and sweeter taste. I buy it online here!
 

 

HOW TO MAKE THE ULTIMATE HEALTHY HOMEMADE GRANOLA 

The key to making the perfect healthy homemade granola is actually how you bake it.

Do not use a square, round, or rectangular cake pan. That’s what I used to do! I often ended up with clusters that were on the small side and not always crunchy. That was because the pan was too crowded, and the granola ended up “steaming” instead of drying out to the perfect crunchy texture.
 

 
Instead, use a large rimmed baking sheet! They’re sometimes called “jelly roll” pans. This is the kind I use.

This larger baking pan has more surface area, so you can spread out your granola in a thinner layer. The thinner layer achieves two things: {a} the granola bakes more evenly and dries out properly (without steaming!), and {b} you don’t have to stir it as much (too much stirring breaks up those big clusters into much smaller bits!).

When you bake your granola with this method, you should end up with really big crunchy clusters. Mine are normally SO large that they can’t even fit on a spoon, so I have to break them apart into three or four smaller clusters once the granola has cooled a bit!

Isn’t that a neat baking trick? It’s how I make all of my granola now!
 

 

FAQS ABOUT HEALTHY HOMEMADE GRANOLA

Is this homemade granola gluten-free? Clean eating?
Yes! If you use certified gluten-free oats (like this) and certified gluten-free rice cereal (like this), then your homemade granola is gluten-free. If you use one of the unrefined sweeteners that I listed, then your homemade granola is clean eating as well.
 
Can I substitute something else for the rice cereal? Like more oats?
For the best crunchy texture, I recommend using rice cereal (whether crispy brown rice or the classic variety, like Rice Krispies). In a pinch, another option would be rice pocket cereal (like Rice Chex) that you’ve lightly crushed so it’s about ¼ of its original size.

If you really prefer to use oats instead, then you can. Just remember that your granola won’t be as crunchy, and the nutrition information will be different too.
 

 
What can I use instead of the eggs?
I haven’t tried making this granola without eggs, so I’m not personally sure. However, some readers have been able to substitute flax “eggs” for the egg whites in my other granola recipes with decent success, so that might be worth a try.
 
How do I store this homemade granola? And how long does it last?
Keep it in an airtight container at room temperature. It should last least a week (if not two or more!) when stored like that.

Tip: You can also freeze homemade granola! See the Notes section of the recipe about how to do that.
 

 
Ready to make your own? When you do, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! 🙂 ) I’d love to see your healthy homemade granola!

View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
 
 
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡  Healthy Almond Butter Granola
♡  Healthy Peanut Butter Granola
♡  Healthy Chocolate Granola
♡  Healthy Maple Pecan Granola
♡  Healthy Vanilla Almond Granola
♡  …and the rest of Amy’s healthy granola recipes!