This Sweet & Simple Crunchy Granola made in just 30 minutes is the perfect addition to your yogurt, ice cream or simply as a snack. It also makes a great gift!
So let me tell you a little bit about this Sweet & Simple Crunchy Granola recipe. I stole borrowed this recipe from my friend Kim, and tweaked it to my perfection. It’s quick and easy, and makes you look like a gourmet chef. It’s that good.
Watch how easy it is to make
Ingredients for crunchy granola
- Brown sugar
- Honey
- Vanilla extract
- Avocado oil (or coconut oil)
- Salt
- Old fashioned oats
- Shredded unsweetened coconut
- Almonds
Best salt for baking?
I use the same salt for cooking and baking. Learn more about why Kosher salt is best!
The Home Cook’s Guide to Salt
Learn about the basics of salt, plus the best salt for cooking (hint: it’s Kosher salt!) with this easy-to-understand guide to salt for home cooks.
My friend’s name is Kimberly (Hi Kim!). Kim has four (four!) amazing children, a husband, a dog, and an entire household to take care of. She cooks (everyday), she cleans, she bakes, she works out, she drives carpool, and she returns every phone call, text, and email in a timely manner.
Kim does it all. I don’t understand how she does it (and does it so well), but I love her for it.
Kimberly has been my mommy mentor, lunch date partner, and recipe bouncer offer for the last 5 years. In between the toddler tantrums, crying babies, and busy schedules, Kim and I gab about food every chance we get. And that’s how I got this Sweet & Simple Crunchy Granola recipe!
The best thing about this recipe is that you can make it your way (to an extent). I like my granola sweet, sticky, suuuuuper crunchy, and without any bells and whistles. But please, feel free to add chocolate chips, dried fruit, or whatever else tickles your granola fancy.
How to make Crunchy Granola?
I recently got an email from someone I worked with years ago, asking for this Sweet & Simple Crunchy Granola recipe. (I was totally that person who used to bring homemade snacks to staff meetings. How else do you get through those?) I had not spoken to this person for over a year, but she said, and I quote, “I have someone who’s excited about granola, and you make the best granola I’ve ever tasted. Any chance I could steal the recipe?
Well, DAAAAAAAMN! Best granola she’s ever tasted?
Also, there’s a secret ingredient. Coconut. Typically I am NOT a coconut fan. But I promise, you don’t taste it.
It just makes the whole thing better.
So, do it!
Alright my friends, dive in! Take the granola plunge. Play around with the ingredients and make it your own. Maybe put it on an Acai Bowl!
You can thank me later.
30-Minute Sweet & Simple Crunchy Granola
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven baked
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Sweet & Simple Crunchy Granola is the perfect addition to your yogurt or simply as a snack. It also makes a great gift!
Ingredients
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup honey, (plus a little extra for love and stickiness)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup avocado oil (or coconut oil)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 cups old fashioned oats (not instant or quick cooking)
- ¾ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- ¾ cup almonds, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl whisk together the brown sugar, honey, vanilla, oil, and salt.
- Add the old fashioned oats and stir. Add the coconut and chopped almonds. At this point if the mixture looks a little loose, like its falling apart, then add a tablespoon at a time of honey until the mixture starts to look sticky.
- Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and spread the granola on the sheet. You can also use parchment paper to help the granola not stick.
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes. Stir it around every 7-10 minutes to make sure it cooks evenly. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn!
Notes
If you choose to add chocolate chips or dried fruit, do so once the granola has cooled.
When you try a recipe, use the hashtag #lifeisbutadish on INSTAGRAM for a chance to be featured in my stories! Follow Life is but a Dish on PINTEREST | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM for all the latest content and behind the scenes!Remember to subscribe to my free Life is but a Dish Weekly Newsletter and receive easy recipes delivered to your inbox every week!
Comments
Robin Selman
What different oil can you used
Laney Schwartz
You can really use any oil you like! Avocado, coconut, even a light olive oil!
Donna
Kim stresses me out
Beth Fox Lepore
It’s not overly sweet yet after the first bite, you find yourself going back for more and more, because it’s that delicious! I misread the recipe and baked it at 350 (oops) without stirring it (oops again) for 30 minutes…it still came out fine. When it cooled, I broke it into large clusters for snacking as well as smaller clusters for eating as cereal. Pretty versatile! The second time around I tried it with less oil but it didn’t get crunchy, so for those who may be tempted to cut down on the oil…don’t.
★★★★★
Laney Schwartz
Thanks Beth! Glad it worked out for you!
Caitlin
What a fantastic recipe! My 3 year old helped me make it and we ate almost all of it off the pan while it cooled. It made the house smell amazing- another plus!
★★★★★
Laney Schwartz
Love that you made this together!
Erika
Fantastic! I’ve been doubling the batch on Sundays for the family to eat as cereal for the week. It’s a big cost savings since everything is getting so expensive at the store. I was out of almonds today but had roasted sunflower seeds on hand from a different meal this week. So the flavor today is sunflower seed and dried cranberries. I was also out of brown sugar, so used regular white granulated and added molasses with the honey.
★★★★★
Laney Schwartz
I love those subs!! Sounds amazing and simple
Claire
Love this recipe! It’s my go-to simple granola recipe.
I highly recommend leaving out the brown sugar, which may seem weird because it’s one of the main components but it actually makes the granola a lot chewier and tastier and you won’t miss it. Plus, it’s a lot healthier.
★★★★
Laney Schwartz
Glad you love it!
Liz
Hi Claire! I have been looking for a simple and basic granola recipe like this one and can’t wait to try! Similarly I thought I would leave out the brown sugar as well; did you end up doubling the maple syrup or leave the maple syrup as stated?
Chance
The recipe didn’t turn out great for me but I’m giving four stars because I’m sure a large part of it was my own doing.
The positives:
Perfectly crunchy! The only other homemade granola I’ve tried came out gummy, so this was a win. Doesn’t get soggy fast either.
Easy to customize if you’d like, which I may try next time
The negatives:
I can’t tell if the end result has too much honey or is burned. It doesn’t look or smell burned, and I took it out on time, but the taste was overwhelmingly burnt-ish in a too sweet way.
Next time I’ll alter my ingredient amounts and bake for less time. I’m not dissuaded from trying again yet since the texture was perfect!
★★★★
Laney Schwartz
Thank you for your review, Chance. It’s definitely a honey heavy recipe which provides that great crunch, but yes, play with it and see!
Micha
I’ve made this many times, each a bit different! But it comes out amazing each time. Best granola recipe EVER! Thank you so much Laney!! I used golden syrup, cashews and dipped chunks in chocolate this time. Made it for a friend who just had a baby… she definitely deserved this jazzed up version!
★★★★★
Laney Schwartz
Oh wow that sounds amaaaaaazing!!!
Rachel
This is delicious! Very yummy and crunchy. I only had sweetened coconut, so I halved the brown sugar, and it was still very sweet – I may try it with no brown sugar next time. (Trying to be healthy!) I ate it with fresh fruit and Greek yogurt, and my kids gobbled it up with milk.
★★★★★
Laney Schwartz
Glad you and the family enjoyed it!
Kara
This is the most amazing homemade granola I have ever made!! Thank you for the amazing recipe!!!!
★★★★★
Laney Schwartz
aaaaaah! Yay!!! We love it too!
Kathyrn HOLT
This makes the best granola ever. Easy, quick, with most ingredients on hand in anyone’s kitchen. It’s crispy, without being clumpy and hard. I did make a minor change. I used a full cup of brown sugar because I prefer the taste, but added a little honey for some stickiness. I added a half cup of Craisins, half cup of finely chopped crystallized ginger, and 3/4 cup chopped cashews…all my favorites. I’m sure it’s very tasty without them because I tried it before I added them. Add any of your own favorites, it’ll be great. I’m very picky about granola and only tried this because I couldn’t find a brand I really liked. Put it on yogurt, ice cream, with milk, or as a snack alone. You can’t go wrong. I’m making some for friends for Christmas.
PS. I prefer crispy to chunky, so I stirred it several times. If you like it chunky, just don’t stir it as much. The few chunks I had had a lovely caramel flavor to it.
★★★★★
Laney Schwartz
This is amazing Kathryn! Thank you for sharing all you swaps and for the awesome review! I hope your friends love it for Christmas!
Ethan Vickery
As a young guy in the Army, I’ve found it hard to find quick, lightweight, easy to carry, quickly filling, good tasting, stick it in my camo pant pockets, long lasting snacks. This granola checks all the boxes for me! Keeps for a long time, which allows me to make alot at once, and really crunchy! Thanks for the recipe, honestly extremely impressed. (Definitely a time/energy saver in my book)
★★★★★
Laney Schwartz
I’m so happy this is a great find for you Ethan! Thanks for your review.
Jrs101
Best granola recipe I’ve tried. Like a granola brittle. Was worried to about the coconut going in at beginning, but it didn’t burn. So impressed. I used coconut oil and walnuts. Thank you.
★★★★★
Laney Schwartz
SO happy you loved it!
Yumi
OMG this is BAD…I CANNOT STOP EATING IT! It’s still sitting on my counter cooling & I keep taking a bite to “check” the taste or if it got crunchier…yep still tastes as delicious as the last bite. 5 minutes later…I need to check it again…and again…and again…lol! So glad I pretty much reached my weight loss goal because I’d be totally doomed if I made this 4 months ago! Thanks for sharing this recipe…I’m gonna “check” it again. 😜
★★★★★
Laney Schwartz
Omg Yumi, I FEEL YOU!! I am known for checking on my food waaaaaaaaay more than necessary. But so glad you love it!!! Makes a great gift if you need to get rid of it!
Shelley Wykoff
Would flavored almonds work? The cocoa dusted?
Laney Schwartz
Yes!! That would be delicious!
Leanne Pearson
This has become our favourite home made granola recipe. My whole family loves it so much, I have made several batches of it. My husband loves to take it to work and eats it on his berries with yogurt. It has the best crunch and taste and keeps very well, if you can stop eating it before you put it away. It’s unbelievably addictive if you like seriously crunchy granola! I like to use pecans half’s sliced in half lengthwise and leave it in the oven for around23-25 minutes for mine to be the way I like it. I have also made it with maple syrup instead of honey as maple syrup is found locally where I live, with the same incredible results. Thanks for sharing this elegantly simple recipe.
L.Pearson
★★★★★
Laney Schwartz
Oh Leanne I’m SO happy you love the granola as much as we do! I love your small tweaks as well. I’ll have to try it with maple syrup!
Cas
Made this today and it is delicious!! I used EVOO as my oil, a mix of slivered almonds and pecans. Added a dash of cinnamon/nutmeg based on previous reviews. Baked at 350F for 20 minutes. Stirred at 10 min and at the 20 min mark. Turned off oven and left in the oven with door 1/4 open for approx 15 min. Moved pan to cooling rack to finish cooling. Crunchy and sweet with a little savory taste with the EVOO/spices. I plan to add dried blue berries and dark chocolate cocoa nibs when cooled. I loved that it broke up into big chunks. I also made sure that I pressed the mix out evenly in the pan and when mixing at 10 min of cooking pressed back down as well. This is a keeper! Glad I found this recipe when I googled.
★★★★★
Maria
350F or C?
Life is but a Dish
F
Lauren H
Laney, I made this last night for the first time and it’s AMAZING!!!!!
★★★★★
Life is but a Dish
So happy you loved it!
Devon
A favorite in our house.
★★★★★
Jessica
Excellent! Easy. Delicious! Thanks
★★★★★
Jill Schwartz
I love this recipe but have tried to make different granola recipes and mine always turn out soft. I’m not sure what I am doing wrong. I stir it constantly so it doesn’t burn. I cook it on 300-350….I’ve tried both ways….and still ,……soft. Please HELP!!!!!
Life is but a Dish
Hmmm, it should harden after it cools completely!
Elizabeth Hudson
AMAZING. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It’s much better than King Author and they’re usually pretty good. I’m not a coconut fan at all, but I tried it and can’t taste it. Ran out of honey so used half honey and half maple syrup. I like chunks of granola, so pressed firmly onto the parchment before baking, then every 7-10 minutes chopped it and gently stirred around until all were deep brown and crunch. Best EVAH!!! thank you SO MUCH!!!
★★★★★
Elizabeth Hudson
ooops. King Authur.
Life is but a Dish
Thank you so much for this review Elizabeth! I’m so glad you loved it!
Linda
If I mix while in the oven to make sure and cost the oats, will the granola be loose not chunky? I like chunks of granola…
Life is but a Dish
They should still be chunky
Veronica
I loved this recipe, so simple! But next time I will leave the coconut out as I could definitely taste it and I found it detracted from my overall enjoyment.
Chloe
I freaking love this granola. It’s like crack. Whenever I make it, I tend to eat the entire batch myself in the span of 2 days. This is dangerous stuff! I swapped brown sugar for coconut sugar and it was delicious.
★★★★★
Moira
I love this recipe – Its a great base and I throw in whatever I have on hand. I like to add the raisins in about four minutes before it is done to make them plump and juicy. It’s a great gift also!
Many thanks!
★★★★★
Life is but a Dish
I’m so glad you love it as much as we do!
Tanya
Hi Laney, I see that this recipe makes 6 servings. I want to possibly make this as a gift for Christmas and package in a cute jar like you recently did. How many jars does one portion make? I’m assuming you used half pint jars?
Life is but a Dish
Yes! It makes about 4 gifts!
Noell
I there! I’m gonna make this soon, but all I have are quick cook oats — what will the difference be? Should I go and purchase regular oats instead?
Life is but a Dish
I’ve never tried this with quick cook oats, so Im not sure how it will change it
Jessica
This looks amazing! How far in advance can I make it?
Life is but a Dish
At least a couple days!
Patsy Ingram
A great simple recipe. Played just a little and added some pure maple syrup and a touch of cinnamon. Your recipe is so good and simple and you can easily add to make your own. Thank you.
★★★★★
Life is but a Dish
So glad you love it!
Arvah Rana
This is so super good and I don’t even like coconut! You can just eat this plain. I made berry yogurt parfait and almost wept with joy. It’s seriously the most perfectly crunchy granola recipe ever! THANK YOU
★★★★★
Life is but a Dish
I feel the same way! SO glad you like it!!
Ang
Planning to make this for an end of school year teacher gift. If I make over Memorial Day can we gift the jar on June 12th?
Life is but a Dish
I don’t think it will be nearly as fresh as making it just a day or two in advance…
Rachael
This is delicious and so easy! So glad I made it! Thank you for sharing!
Rosaura
Hi there I just wanted to say hi. The text in your article seem to be running off the screen in Safari. I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with web browser compatibility but I figured I’d say this to let you know. The design look great though! Hope you get the problem solved soon. Cheers!
Life is but a Dish
Hello! Thank you for pointing this out, I will look into it!
Toby Kirsch "aka" Gaga
Love the pictures and the copy is amazing your way with words makes food look and I bet taste better. Thanks for the amazing recipes. Keep it up I love reading your blog.
Life is but a Dish
Thank you Toby! 🙂
Stephen
The husband was mentioned after the kids, but before the dog, I am ok with that… 😉
Life is but a Dish
🙂