Vegan Granola Recipe: Dive in for a Nutrient Boost

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You know I am all about getting store-bought help to make our lives easy. But one thing I will not buy is Vegan granola. There are many reasons, one of those being that it is incredibly easy and quick to make at home. You can control the ingredients that go into your granola and customize it to your taste and preferences. Store-bought granolas are laden with oil and sugar and when you make them at home, you can control that.

I have really fond memories of making granola at home. When my daughter was born some eleven years ago, we had a small welcome home party for her. We invited our closest friends and sent them home with bags of homemade granola. I must have made 10 batches of granola in 2 days! My friends loved it and I got many calls and messages asking for the recipe. But this also tells you how incredibly easy it is to make it at home. If I could do it then in between nursing my baby and juggling other tasks, you can do it too.

In this recipe article, I will guide you through an easy-to-follow recipe for homemade vegan granola. I’ll provide helpful tips to achieve that perfect crunch, suggest flavor variations, and share ideas for serving this delightful breakfast or snack option. So, let’s get started.

Outline for Vegan Granola recipe

Ingredients used to make Vegan Granola

3 cups rolled oats (old-fashioned oats)
1 cup chopped raw almonds
1 cup chopped raw cashews
¼ cup of any unflavored oil (I use avocado oil)
½ cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons brown sugar (optional for extra sweetness)
½ tsp cinnamon powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup dried cranberries

How to make the Best Vegan Granola recipe

Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you make the perfect vegan granola recipe:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mix oats, almonds, and cashews in a large bowl.
In a separate container mix, oil, maple syrup, salt, and cinnamon.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well.
Spread in an even layer on a cookie sheet.
Bake for 35 minutes, removing it from the oven and stirring it every 10-12 minutes for even baking and color.
Remove from the oven and add dried cranberries to the hot granola.
Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Recipe tips to make homemade Vegan Granola

To make the perfect vegan granola, here are a few recipe tips:

For the nuts in this recipe, I have used almonds and cashews. You can use your favorite nut combination. Raw pistachios, pecans, or walnuts would taste great as well. For 3 cups of rolled oats, try and keep nuts to 2 cups and use any combination you would like.
I have used cranberries as my dried fruit in this recipe, but you can use raisins or dried apricots as well. Just be sure to chop up the apricots into bite-size pieces. You can completely omit dried fruit as well.
This recipe is not too sweet, so if you would like extra sweetness, you can also add two to three tablespoons of brown sugar to the wet ingredients. When I make granola for gifting, I add the extra brown sugar to make the granola a little more decadent.
The granola is flavored with cinnamon powder to give it some warmth but you can use any baking spices of your choice. Apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice would be wonderful around the holidays.
You can also add shredded sweetened coconut to the granola. Just add it to the pan in the last 10-12 minutes of cooking time.

FAQs- Homemade Granola recipe

Can I make this Vegan Granola recipe nut-free?

If you have nut allergies and would like to keep it nut free, just omit the nuts and add a combination of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, or chia seeds. You can also increase the amount of rolled oats in the recipe. Just keep rolled oats plus anything that you add (nuts or seeds) to a total of 5 cups. That will work well with the other ingredient quantities.

Can I use honey instead of maple syrup in this recipe?

For this Vegan Granola recipe, I have used maple syrup. Honey is not a vegan ingredient. To keep it vegan, you can use maple or agave syrup in the recipe.

Can I substitute quick-cooking oats or steel-cut oats in this recipe?

Rolled oats also called old-fashioned oats give the granola the best texture. So, unfortunately, you cannot substitute quick cooking or steel-cut oats in this recipe.

How to use Granola

My favorite way to eat granola is over Greek yogurt, with berries, drizzled with honey or maple syrup.
With regular milk or nut milk.
Just snack on it as is!
Makes great holiday gifts or house presents. Package them in large mason jars or cellophane bags and put a nice ribbon around them. I can tell you from experience, your friends are going to love it! People get a lot of cookies and treats around the holidays, so receiving something healthy and delicious will be a welcome change.

If you are making the granola for gifting it definitely helps to make a double batch. Just double the recipe provided and spread it on 2 cookie sheets. Place the cookie sheets on the middle and bottom rack of the oven. Rotate the cookie sheets between the racks when you take it out of the oven to stir the granola, which will ensure even cooking.

More holiday food gift ideas

Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread

Sweet and Spicy Maple roasted Nuts

Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread

Try this recipe

Sweet and Spicy Maple roasted Nuts

Try this recipe

So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and make a big batch of the BEST VEGAN GRANOLA, customize it to your liking, and share it with your family and friends this holiday season!

Recipe Card – Vegan Granola