Homemade Vanilla Almond Granola

This delicious homemade vanilla almond granola recipe is really easy and made with ingredients that you likely have access to in the pantry. It’s a blend of aromatic vanilla, warm cinnamon, whole-grain oats, unrefined coconut oil, and crunchy almond. They are sweetened with brown sugar caramel. Make it your own! 

Once you try homemade vanilla almond granola, you won’t go back to store-bought granola. It’s so much better! And healthier. 

I mean, have you ever checked the back of the store-bought granola packaging and read their ingredient list? Pretty scary. They either have some ingredients that you can’t even pronounce and/or they have at least three different kinds of sweeteners. Yikes! 

That’s practically the reason, I decided to ditch the store-bought granola and make our own.

My husband got me hooked on eating breakfast with granola, oatmeal, and fruits every morning since we got married. He bought organic granola from Aldi but we found out that there are four sweeteners inside one packet. A little too much sugar than what we need to start our day with. 

I want to focus on whole, natural things as often as possible for our daily food. Like, healthy homemade vanilla almond granola, without a bunch of excess sugar and foods that I don’t recognize. 

Homemade Vanilla Almond Granola

Oats

I used hearty and healthy old-fashioned oats. Use certified gluten-free oats if you want gluten-free granola.

Almonds

I prefered sliced almonds for extra crunch. Almonds contain a lot of healthy fats, fiber, protein, magnesium, and vit. E. It reduces Hunger so my husband can keep his diet on track. Also, almond is relatively more affordable than other nuts or seeds. We want to keep the making of homemade granola in our grocery budget. 

Unrefined Oil

Oil helps make this granola crisp and irresistible. I prefer unrefined coconut oil, which is delicious and the taste is unnoticeable after baking. 

Sweetener

I love using brown sugar with one spoon of honey in my granola.

Salt and Spice

Be generous with salt! Sprinkle too little and your flavors won’t sing. I prefer using fine-grain sea salt in this one (I don’t want to bite into chunky coarse salt when eating my granola).

Aromatic vanilla and cinnamon are important spices to this batch for getting that sweet-scented and warming aroma. 

VARIATIONS TO TRY

• If you prefer not to use brown sugar, simply swap the sugar with only honey or maple syrup.
• You can use other nuts or seeds for more crowded granola. Other options include walnuts, pecans or Pepitas, cashews, peanuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts, and sunflower seeds.
• Add a few handfuls of raisins or cranberries when the granola comes out of the oven.
• Mix in some chocolate chips as the granola is cooling – you'll want them to melt into the oats a little, but not too much if you are watching sugar intake. 
• Add unsweetened coconut flakes (or sweetened as your heart desires), you can add them halfway through baking to avoid burning them. 

Homemade Vanilla Almond Granola 

INGREDIENTS

4 cups old-fashioned oats 
1 cup sliced almonds 
2/3 cup golden brown sugar, packed 
1⁄4 teaspoon salt 
1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1⁄3 cup unrefined coconut oil 
2-3 tablespoons honey (skip it if you like less sweet)
2 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract (yes, tablespoon.) 

DIRECTIONS

Position the rack in the middle or top of the oven and preheat to 300*. Place parchment paper on the large baking pan. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine oil, honey, and sugar in a small saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Your kitchen and house will immediately smell wonderful from the aromatic. Pour hot liquid over the oat mixture; stir well. Using your hands, toss the mixture until thoroughly mixed. Spread granola on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes (but check after 20). Transfer sheet to rack; cool granola completely. (Can be made two weeks ahead. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.)