Maple Walnut Granola
This homemade maple walnut granola is a delicious breakfast staple. Lightly sweetened and crispy, it’s a quick and easy recipe that will have you looking forward to breakfast all week long.
Homemade granola is my go-to breakfast. The perfect crispy oats. The light sweetness. The warming spices. We are lucky in my house if any granola actually makes it to the table. It’s always a battle to keep little hands (and big ones) from grabbing it straight off the baking sheet.
If you’ve never had homemade granola, you probably don’t get what all the fuss is about. I don’t blame you! Store bought granola is just not that good. It’s over-priced, over-sweet and not very fresh. Give homemade granola a try, and I promise you will be converted.
This recipe is a perfect basic granola. It uses a base of old fashioned oats and chopped walnuts. It gets its crispiness from coconut oil, and its mild sweetness from pure maple syrup. Add some salt, vanilla and cinnamon, and it’s well-balanced and flavorful – perfect for all your favorite mix-ins!
For more delicious make-ahead breakfast recipes, try my easy no bake blueberry granola bars, pumpkin protein muffins, or vanilla overnight oats.
You Will Love This
- As easy as cereal in the morning, but naturally sweetened and full of whole grains.
- Naturally gluten free, just use gluten free oats!
- The cinnamon walnut mixture will have your whole house smelling delicious.
Ingredients
To make maple walnut granola, you will need the following simple ingredients (exact measurements are in the recipe card below).
Ingredient Notes
- Old-fashioned rolled oats: Make sure to use rolled oats, not instant oats or steel cut oats.
- Walnut halves: Feel free to substitute another nut if you don’t like walnuts. Pecans are delicious! For a nut-free granola base, you can leave out the walnuts and just add more oats.
- Maple syrup: You can substitute honey for maple syrup.
- Coconut oil: I love coconut oil in granola because it helps the recipe get nice and crispy! I would not recommend substituting it.
Perfect Granola Mix-Ins
This granola recipe is super versatile and perfect for customizing. I added pepitas and craisins in this batch. Choose whatever mix-ins you like! Just make sure to add any mix-ins after the granola has fully cooled. Here are some of my favorite ideas:
- pepitas, sunflower seeds, flax, or any other favorite seeds
- dried fruit like craisins, dried apples, raisins or blueberries
- coconut chips or coconut flakes
- chocolate chips
Instructions
Step One: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In the meantime, put the walnut halves in a ziploc bag and pound them with a rolling pin until they are in small pieces. Alternatively, you can chop them into small pieces with a knife.
Step Two: Add dry ingredients (oats, walnuts, cinnamon and salt) to a bowl and mix together to combine.
Step Three: In a separate bowl, mix melted coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix them to combine.
Step Four: Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Pour the granola onto the sheet pan and press it into the pan with the back of a spatula or spoon. This helps it form clusters.
Step Five: Bake for about 10 minutes. Remove the granola from the oven and stir it. Press the granola back into the pan with the back of the spatula, and return to the oven. Continue baking the granola for another 12-15 minutes, until the pieces at the edge of the pan just start to turn golden brown.
Step Six: Allow the granola to cool for at least one hour undisturbed. (Yes, that means no sneaking any during this time!) When granola is completely cool, add any optional mix ins you like – I chose pepitas and dried cranberries for this granola.
How do you make granola crispy?
There is nothing worse than soggy granola. Thankfully, this granola stays nice and crisp. A couple of my top tips for crispy granola are:
- Cooking temperature. I like to keep the cooking temperature lower (325 degrees Fahrenheit in this recipe). If you cook your granola at a higher temperature (in the 400s) you risk burning the edges before the middle has time to fully bake.
- Coconut oil. I’ve tried lots of variations of granola with different oils and butter. I love the nice crisp and mild flavor of coconut oil.
- Cooling time. Letting the granola fully cool undisturbed is essential to crispy granola. I like to let this sit out all day before I put it into a storage container in the pantry. If you put the granola away before it is fully cooled, the humidity left in the oats will make it turn soft in its container.
Storage
Store fully cooled granola in an airtight container in the pantry for up to two weeks. I highly doubt it will last that long!!
Maple Walnut Granola
Ingredients
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup walnut halves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In the meantime, put the walnut halves in a ziploc bag and pound them with a rolling pin until they are in very small pieces, with some walnut dust. Alternatively, chop them into small pieces with a knife.
- Add dry ingredients (oats, walnuts, cinnamon and salt) to a bowl and mix to combine.
- In a separate bowl, mix melted coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix them to combine.
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Pour the granola onto the sheet pan and press it into the pan with the back of a spatula or spoon. This helps it form clusters.
- Bake for about 10 minutes. Remove the granola from the oven and stir it. Press the granola back into the pan with the back of the spatula, and return to the oven. Continue baking the granola for another 12-15 minutes, until the pieces at the edge of the pan just start to turn golden brown.
- Allow the granola to cool for at least one hour undisturbed.
Dangerously good recipe. This always goes fast in our house!