Crispy Chunky Granola

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I absolutely love granola in all its forms and all its types. Sam’s Club sells chunky granola in their bakery section that I fell in love with and decided to figure out how to make.  For many people, granola is breakfast food but Sams Club’s product was a snack but its not a bar or individually wrapped product.  I read their label and a bunch of reputable recipes online and came up with my own easy recipe that I know you will love. 

Here are a few of the variables I wanted to ensure I could master in my recipe:

  • Big clusters centered around whole nuts (I prefer almonds)
  • A crunch that makes the granola feel more like a snack than a breakfast food
  • Just sweet enough to be tasty but not so sweet you feel guilty
  • Add a lot of fiber and Omega III through Chia seeds and ground flax meal
Chunky granola

I've made this recipe a ton of times and I never get the same taste twice. Full disclosure, I don't measure any of the wet ingredients or spices, I just kind of eyeball each. Sometimes I  want a little bit more cinnamon flavor, sometimes I want a little bit more nutmeg or maybe today I want it a little sweeter. I can alter all the different ingredients to be able to accomplish that.

Insert granola photo

Oh, my gosh. I just love it. 

Let’s discuss ingredients

What is it that I love about this recipe and granola, in general, is its versatility in ingredients and flavors.  At its core granola is a blend of Oats, sweeteners, spices, nuts, and dried fruit.  I only u se Old Fashioned oats in my granola and never use instant or quick oats as they change the consistency drastically.  The sky is the limit with your choice of nuts and dried fruit. I have learned that the cheaper quality brands of dried fruit are not a great choice as their flavor gets totally lost in the final product.  I like whole almonds and sliced almonds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, and brazil nuts when I can find them.  Truthfully, I typically only have one of these nut types and peanuts in the house, so that’s what I use. You may hate all of these nuts and want no nuts in your granola and that’s perfectly fine.  Again, the point here is versatility.   

I am always big into getting fiber and Omega III in my family’s diet so I add Chia seeds and flaxseed meal (always the meal).  I’ve experimented and you can add up to a combined ¾ cup of these two ingredients without affecting the final product.  These are my 2 additives, you may have others you want to experiment with.  The key is moisture, do they affect the moisture level of the granola.  See my NOTES below on the ratios for the granola cluster mix.

How to make Chucky Granola?

Granola is super easy to make there are 4 main parts to your recipe:

  • Wet ingredients and flavor
  • Old Fashioned Oats
  • Dried fruit and nut mix
  • Hidden Health (my fancy term for the healthy stuff you can put in granola)
  • First, you combine the oil, honey, and spices and flavorings.  As a note: maple syrup can also be used to replace or augment the honey. This honestly is the hardest part, some people take a short cut and pop these ingredients into a microwave, I’m not a fan.  I must admit though that blending honey and oil by hand can take up to 5 minutes.  It’s a good workout.
  • Next, we measure out our oats and pour them on top of our wet ingredients. 

  • Next, measure out 3 cups of your favorite fruit and nut blend and add them on top to the wet ingredients and oats.  I typically just go to the cabinet and find all the bags of random dried fruit and nuts and measure them.  I must add that my granola always has raisins, I adore raisins.  Dates, mangoes, papaya, and pineapples are other great additions.  Coconut can add really great texture and small seeds like pumpkin or sunflower are always fun additions.  Personally, I’m a big whole nut guy.  Give me those almonds and brazil nuts!

  • Next, I measure out a total of ¾ cups of my Hidden Health and add on top of the fruit and nut mix in your bowl.  These can be your chia seed, flaxseed meal, hemp seeds, or anything else that you desire.  Just be aware of how it will affect the moisture levels of the granola mix as you bake it.  Here is the fun part, if you don’t know how it will affect the moisture then just try it and see how it turns out.  Honestly, that’s exactly how I figured out ¾ cups combined of chia seeds and flax meal would work for me!

  • Finally, its time to mix.  I take a tablespoon and trace the sides of my bowl all the way down and through the bottom middle where the wet ingredients are.  My goal is the get the contents turning over and bring the very bottom to the top. Typically I mix for 4 minutes or so.  While mixing you will start to see clusters naturally forming, I don’t break those up, I will just mix around them.  The mix will appear dry but if you can determine that you have incorporated all of the wet ingredients from the bottom then the mix is perfect!  You must resist the urge to add more liquid at this point.  At this point, however, is the perfect time to taste your granola and add more SPICES as needed.  Here is my rule of thumb:  If I can’t stop eating the mix because it tastes so good then its ready to bake!  No Joke, sometimes I just eat the mix by the spoonful.

  • Last Step, Line 2-3 baking sheets (depending on the size of your sheets) with foil and spray with cooking spray. The idea here is to pack the granola in tightly together on a tray but not exceed ¼ inch in height.  I pour ⅓ of my granola mixture onto a baking sheet and pack it into a tight mound in the center of the sheet.  Then I start to press down in the middle of the mound.  As it starts to spread I push the edges back toward the middle to ensure the granola stays packed tightly.  I continue this until the granola is ¼ inch thick across the entire pan. Repeat this step for each baking pan.

    Then it’s off to the oven at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. I bake 1 tray at a time. Once it’s done baking I remove the granola from the sheet by lifting the edges of the foil and place it on a cooling rack to cool completely.  This is SUPER important.  I have found that if you leave the granola on the baking sheet then it never fully crisps and clusters. 

Cooking Notes

  1.  The ratio of wet to dry ingredients should be approximately 2 cups wet and 8 cups dry.  Your Hidden Healthy does not count unless it releases liquid during baking.
  2. Play with the length of baking time.  Every oven and altitude will be different
  3. The granola will not be crispy when you remove it from the oven.  What you are looking for is the color as the oats toast.
  4. Raisins and other fruit often plum up during baking, They will return to form after your granola cools
Wet Ingredients
 ¾ cup vegetable oil
 ½ cup Honey
 1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
 ½ cup brown sugar (light or dark)
Spices and Flavoring
 2 tbsp Nutmeg
 2 tbsp Cinnamon
 2 tsp All Spice
 ½ tsp Salt
Granola
 5 cups Old Fashioned Oats
 1 cup All purpose Flour
 3 cups Your favorite nuts, seed, berries, and flax mix. Chopped or whole piece is your preference, I like a combination of both
 ½ cup Chia Seeds (optional)
 ½ cup Ground Flax Seed Meal (optional)

Cooking Directions

1

Preheat Oven to 325

2

Add all Wet ingredients and all Spice ingredients to a small saucepan and heat over low heat. This usually takes me about 3-5 minutes. The mixture should warm-up and not become very hot.

Granola wet ingredients

3

Add Oats to a Large bowl

4

Add the flour on top of the oats and mix well to coat the oats with flour

5

Add dried fruit and nuts mix to the bowl.

6

Pour liquid ingredients on top of the dry ingredients and mix together thoroughly.

Granola Mix

7

Parchment line 2 baking sheets. Put half of the granola mixture on each sheet. The goal is to have the granola packed in tightly AND not taller than 1/2 an inch.

Granola Ready to Bake

8

Bake for 25 min at 325 Degrees or until the top of your granola is golden or the raisins (if you used them) get plump. If you need to add more time to your baking check the granola every 5 minutes.

Baked Granola

9

Remove parchment from the baking sheet and place it on a cooling rack and allow it to cool for 15-20 min. Then break granola into large chunks.

Chunky granola

For Super Crunchy Granola
10

Return the cooled granola to a foil-lined greased baking sheet. Drizzle the granola with 1/2 cup of honey and bake for 10 minutes at 325 degrees. It's important to note that the granola will be soft after baking until its completely cooled. Resist the desire to bake it until its crispy.

Granola in a bowl

Please follow me on Instagram
When you make this recipe, I would love to know! Tag @cookingwithatiba and #cookingwithatiba.

Watch How To Make It

 

Yields1 Serving
Prep Time15 minsCook Time25 minsTotal Time40 mins

Recipe Ingredients

Wet Ingredients
 ¾ cup vegetable oil
 ½ cup Honey
 1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
 ½ cup brown sugar (light or dark)
Spices and Flavoring
 2 tbsp Nutmeg
 2 tbsp Cinnamon
 2 tsp All Spice
 ½ tsp Salt
Granola
 5 cups Old Fashioned Oats
 1 cup All purpose Flour
 3 cups Your favorite nuts, seed, berries, and flax mix. Chopped or whole piece is your preference, I like a combination of both
 ½ cup Chia Seeds (optional)
 ½ cup Ground Flax Seed Meal (optional)

Cooking Directions

1

Preheat Oven to 325

2

Add all Wet ingredients and all Spice ingredients to a small saucepan and heat over low heat. This usually takes me about 3-5 minutes. The mixture should warm-up and not become very hot.

Granola wet ingredients

3

Add Oats to a Large bowl

4

Add the flour on top of the oats and mix well to coat the oats with flour

5

Add dried fruit and nuts mix to the bowl.

6

Pour liquid ingredients on top of the dry ingredients and mix together thoroughly.

Granola Mix

7

Parchment line 2 baking sheets. Put half of the granola mixture on each sheet. The goal is to have the granola packed in tightly AND not taller than 1/2 an inch.

Granola Ready to Bake

8

Bake for 25 min at 325 Degrees or until the top of your granola is golden or the raisins (if you used them) get plump. If you need to add more time to your baking check the granola every 5 minutes.

Baked Granola

9

Remove parchment from the baking sheet and place it on a cooling rack and allow it to cool for 15-20 min. Then break granola into large chunks.

Chunky granola

For Super Crunchy Granola
10

Return the cooled granola to a foil-lined greased baking sheet. Drizzle the granola with 1/2 cup of honey and bake for 10 minutes at 325 degrees. It's important to note that the granola will be soft after baking until its completely cooled. Resist the desire to bake it until its crispy.

Granola in a bowl

Please follow me on Instagram
When you make this recipe, I would love to know! Tag @cookingwithatiba and #cookingwithatiba.

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Ingredients

Wet Ingredients
 ¾ cup vegetable oil
 ½ cup Honey
 1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
 ½ cup brown sugar (light or dark)
Spices and Flavoring
 2 tbsp Nutmeg
 2 tbsp Cinnamon
 2 tsp All Spice
 ½ tsp Salt
Granola
 5 cups Old Fashioned Oats
 1 cup All purpose Flour
 3 cups Your favorite nuts, seed, berries, and flax mix. Chopped or whole piece is your preference, I like a combination of both
 ½ cup Chia Seeds (optional)
 ½ cup Ground Flax Seed Meal (optional)

Directions

1

Preheat Oven to 325

2

Add all Wet ingredients and all Spice ingredients to a small saucepan and heat over low heat. This usually takes me about 3-5 minutes. The mixture should warm-up and not become very hot.

Granola wet ingredients

3

Add Oats to a Large bowl

4

Add the flour on top of the oats and mix well to coat the oats with flour

5

Add dried fruit and nuts mix to the bowl.

6

Pour liquid ingredients on top of the dry ingredients and mix together thoroughly.

Granola Mix

7

Parchment line 2 baking sheets. Put half of the granola mixture on each sheet. The goal is to have the granola packed in tightly AND not taller than 1/2 an inch.

Granola Ready to Bake

8

Bake for 25 min at 325 Degrees or until the top of your granola is golden or the raisins (if you used them) get plump. If you need to add more time to your baking check the granola every 5 minutes.

Baked Granola

9

Remove parchment from the baking sheet and place it on a cooling rack and allow it to cool for 15-20 min. Then break granola into large chunks.

Chunky granola

For Super Crunchy Granola
10

Return the cooled granola to a foil-lined greased baking sheet. Drizzle the granola with 1/2 cup of honey and bake for 10 minutes at 325 degrees. It's important to note that the granola will be soft after baking until its completely cooled. Resist the desire to bake it until its crispy.

Granola in a bowl

Crispy Chunky Granola
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