The Ultimate Healthy Homemade Granola
This healthy homemade granola is lightly sweetened with a cozy cinnamon flavor and lots of big crunchy clusters. It’s my favorite basic recipe and a great blank canvas! It tastes wonderful served in a bowl with milk or yogurt, as well as eaten plain by the handful. You can easily add in different mix-ins once it’s cooled too, like nuts, dried fruit, or even chocolate chips!
Ingredients
- 3 large egg whites (see Notes!)
- ¼ cup (60mL) pure maple syrup (see Notes!)
- 2 ½ tsp ground cinnamon (see Notes!)
- 2 cups (60g) crisp brown rice cereal
- 1 ½ cups (150g) old-fashioned oats (gluten-free, if necessary, and measured like this)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F, and line a rimmed baking sheet with a silicone baking mat (highly recommended!) or parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the egg whites until the egg whites are broken up and slightly bubbly. Whisk in the maple syrup. Whisk in the cinnamon until fully incorporated with no clumps. Pour in the brown rice cereal and oats, and gently stir with a spatula until both cereals are evenly coated.
- Spread the mixture evenly onto the prepared pan. Bake at 325°F for 20 minutes. Gently stir and move the clusters around the pan to break up the granola and prevent the bits closest to the edge from burning. Bake for an additional 10 minutes, then gently stir again. Bake for an additional 4-8 minutes (for a total of 34-38 minutes), or until the granola is crunchy. Let the granola cool for 5 minutes before breaking apart any extra large clusters. Cool the granola completely to room temperature on the pan before transferring to an airtight container.
Notes
EGG WHITE NOTES: You do NOT end up with bits of egg in your granola! It’s just like when you put eggs in cookie dough. You don’t end up with chunks of scrambled cooked eggs in your cookies, right? Same thing here! You thoroughly mix together the ingredients so you’ll never see bits of cooked egg in your granola. I promise!
I haven’t tried substituting anything for the egg whites. However, readers have said that flax “eggs” work decently as a substitute in my other granola recipes, so that might be a good place to start if you need to make this granola egg free.
SWEETENER NOTES: As written, this granola isn’t overly sweet. For sweeter granola, use 2 egg whites and 6 tablespoons (90mL) maple syrup instead. The baking time and temperatures will remain the same.
Honey or agave may be substituted for the pure maple syrup.
Depending on the sweetener 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 NOTE: I love Saigon cinnamon (I buy it online here!) because it has a richer, stronger, and sweeter flavor.
If you’re a big cinnamon fan (like I am!), then increase the cinnamon to 3 teaspoons. For a less prominent spice flavor, decrease to 2 teaspoons.
OATS NOTE: Quick cooking oats (also called “instant” or “one-minute” oats — and the gluten-free version, if necessary!) may be substituted for the old-fashioned oats. I don’t recommend substituting steel cut oats.
RICE CEREAL NOTES: The crisp brown rice cereal adds a big crunch to your granola clusters without any oil or butter. It’s such a great trick, and I use it in all of my granola recipes! (If you check the ingredients in your favorite store-bought granola cereals, I bet some of them use rice cereal as well!)
Regular crisp rice cereal (i.e. Rice Krispies) may be substituted in place of the brown rice cereal. 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.
You may substitute additional oats for the rice cereal, but your granola won’t be as crunchy.
DAIRY FREE OPTION: No modifications needed!
GLUTEN FREE OPTION: Use certified gluten-free brown rice cereal (this is the one I use!) and certified gluten-free oats (these are my favorite old-fashioned oats and these are my favorite quick-cooking oats!).
HOW TO STORE: Store the granola in an airtight container at room temperature. It should last for at least a week (if not two or more!).
HOW TO FREEZE: Line a baking sheet with foil (for easy clean-up!). Arrange the fully cooled granola in a single layer on the foil. Place in the freezer for 2 hours or until fully frozen. Transfer to a zip-topped bag lined with a paper towel, and squeeze out as much air as you can before sealing the bag and placing it in the freezer. (I actually think it tastes really good frozen!)
After thawing the granola, it’ll be a little bit chewy, so spread it out on a baking sheet in a thin even layer. Bake at 325°F for 6-9 minutes or until it turns crisp and crunchy again.
{gluten free, dairy free, clean eating, low fat}
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?I'd love to hear what you think of it in a comment below! If you take a picture, tag @amyshealthybaking on Instagram or use the hashtag #amyshealthybaking.