Granola Recipe with Maple, Honey, and Big Clusters

An easy granola recipe that’s sweetened with maple syrup and honey and packed with nutritious fiber-filled ingredients and delicious clusters, all while using less sugar than traditional granola. With it’s unique cooking technique, flexibility with ingredients, and quick hands on time (less than 10 minutes) this will become your go to granola recipe. You’ll never have to buy questionable store bought granola again!

This chunky, maple and honey sweetened granola recipe was a revelation to me when I first made it years ago, not only because it tastes amazing, but also because it uses less sweetener than most granola recipes, bakes in about 20 minutes, and makes huge clumps perfect for snacking.

You know those large clumps in granola that are a bit hard to create in many homemade recipes? I don’t know if you’re a fan of those like our family is, but this cereal is full of the bark-like clusters our kids enjoy for snacking.

Let me warn you, it can be dangerous. I lost track of the times I walked by and grabbed a clump “just to test” while it was cooling. This stuff is good, and that’s saying something because I seriously love the granola I’ve made for years (one of the first recipes I shared back in 2009).

In fact, I think I’ve mentioned I even get a bit grumpy when I can’t have my morning granola with walnuts and cranberries. I also add chia seeds, hemp seeds, and frozen berries (blue, blackberries, or raspberries – whatever I have in the freezer) – this granola is so easy to add things to that make it even healthier!

Ingredient Notes

Along with honey, maple syrup, and oats, the recipe calls for oil, vanilla, seeds, and nuts – all things you may already have in your pantry.

• Honey and maple syrup: While I prefer both and call for it in the recipe, you can use only one or the other. I will note, however, that the consistency of the granola is different with only one – it’s stickier, seeming more sweet with only honey, and is less sticky (so less clumpy) with all maple.
• Oats: Use rolled oats for this recipe or any combo of rolled grains you like. I also sometimes use a combo of regular rolled oats and steel cut oats.
• Oil: I prefer a neutral oil like avocado or cold-pressed sunflower oil. If you have a more neutral tasting olive oil, that will work, too.
• Nuts: Surprisingly I prefer using roasted and salted almonds for this recipe – the flavor is more intense after baking. But raw almonds work fine and if I use walnuts they are always raw.

How to Make Maple Honey Granola

Step 1: One of the time-saving things about this recipe is not needed to cook the liquid/sweetener ingredients like my other recipe – simply mix them in in a bowl.

Step 2: Add the dry ingredients, mixing everything together in the same bowl (so not only less time, but less to clean!).

TIP: Once you have this recipe down, I’ve found it only takes about 5-7 minutes to gather ingredients and mix in the bowl!

Step 3: Scrape the oat mixture onto a lined baking sheet (silicone or parchment) and press it out evenly with the back of a spoon, spreading into the corners and edges.*

Step 4: Cook it without stirring for about 20 minutes (if you’ve made traditional granola, you know this is aaaamazing – most have to be stirred multiple times while baking).

*Leave it to Cook’s Illustrated to come up with this unique technique that works perfectly (here’s their recipe that I’ve adapted).

Step 5: Remove the pan from the oven when the edges are starting to brown and let it sit on a cooling rack for 1 hour without disturbing. Then break it into chunks and let it sit until it’s completely cool before storing.

Pressing the oat mixture into the cookie sheet and not touching it again until after it’s cooled is how the same sweetener-oil-oats concoction of every granola recipe transforms into a granola that’s crispy, chunky, and chewy with big clusters. And the fact that it uses even less sugar than my original granola, is just icing on the cake.

I’m not kidding when I say this granola recipe is a staple recipe at our house – I make it every two to three weeks and it’s my preferred breakfast with toppings of walnuts, chia seeds, hemp seeds, dried cranberries, goji berries, and frozen berries (*chef’s kiss*).

BUT, if you’re looking to add more protein to your morning breakfast and wonder if granola can still be a part of it, then definitely check out this maple cinnamon protein granola recipe! I simply adapted this recipe to use more nuts and seeds, less oats, and include a pure protein powder. (There was no way I was going to let protein get in the way of my beloved granola, ha!)

I hope you love this as much as I do – be sure to leave a rating and review so I can know!

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5 from 24 votes

Granola Recipe with Maple, Honey, and Big Clusters

An easy granola recipe that uses less natural sweeteners, is full of healthy fiber, done in about 30 minutes, and tastes amazing!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Yield: 7 cups

1x2x3x

Author: Jami Boys

Equipment

• Large bowl
• 17×11 inch rimmed baking sheet

Click for Cook Mode

Ingredients

• 1/4 to 1/3 cup pure maple syrup*
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup honey*
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup oil melted coconut oil, cold-pressed sunflower oil, or avocado oil
• 5 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup chopped almonds or walnuts
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds or sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup ground flax or 1/4 cup flax + 1/4 cup hemp seeds
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt omit if using salted sunflower seeds
• optional 1 to 2 cups dried fruit (mix in after baking – we usually add our fruit to each bowl when eating)

Instructions

• Heat oven to 350 degrees** and line a large (11×7 inch) baking sheet with silicone or parchment.
• Mix the syrup, honey, vanilla, and oil together in a large bowl, and then add the remaining ingredients (except for the optional fruit), stirring until the oats are completely coated.
• Press the oat mixture evenly onto the prepared baking sheet, using the back of the spoon, a spatula, or your hand wetted with water.
• Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, without stirring, for 20-24 minutes or until golden brown all over and browning on the edges.
• Remove to a cooling rack for 1 hour before breaking the granola into chunks and then letting cool completely.
• Add any optional fruit and store in an airtight container. Lasts 2 to 4 weeks at room temperature.

Notes

*Alternately, you can use all maple syrup or all honey. As of 2022: I now only use 1/4 cup each of the maple syrup and honey and it’s still plenty sweet with clusters!

**I now bake this at a higher temperature for less time than when I first published this recipe. It’s quicker and browns better. The original baking directions were to cook for 35 minutes at 325 degrees.

Nutrition Facts were calculated without optional dried fruit.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.25 cup | Calories: 173kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.001g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 44mg | Potassium: 138mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 21IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 1mg

Did you make this recipe?Mention @anoregoncottage or tag #anoregoncottage!

Recipes to use your granola (if you don’t eat it all first!)

• Cashew Cranberry and White Chocolate Granola Bites
• Chocolate Chip Granola Bites (and lots of variations!)
• Cranberry-Almond No Bake Granola Bars

This recipe has been updated – it was originally published in 2013.