Granola clusters are a nutritious, energy-packed snack that’s a treat to eat on their own, as an addition to breakfast cereal, or as a topping for vanilla ice cream. I enjoy them on my morning yogurt as a filling morning snack, and my kids have also taken a liking to them because they can appreciate a great on-the-go option, too, now that they have a job, studying, or university to attend.
Why I Think You’ll Love This Recipe
- These are easy to adjust to your own liking, and granola clusters can stay fresh for 1-2 weeks in a sealed jar for snacking.
- Granola is really expensive to buy! Break this up to make granola for yourself a well, instead of clusters.
Healthier Homemade Granola Clusters
Many pre-packaged granolas are high in sugar and really expensive. To save money and find a healthier option, I decided to try making my own granola clusters that both my kids and I would enjoy by choosing our own ingredients.
This is an extremely easy base recipe that you can build your own granola mixture on. Make sure to check out my homemade granola bars recipe as well!
How to Make Granola Clusters
- Preheat your oven to 300°F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mix the oats, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Add the fruit and nuts of choice.
- In a smaller bowl, combine honey, oil, egg whites, and vanilla. Drizzle over the oat mixture and mix.
- Lay on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes
- Remove and let cool completely, then break into pieces.
Use Nut Butters
If you want chewier clusters, add 1-2 tablespoons of peanut, almond, or other nut butter. It will flavor the clusters wonderfully and make great chewy clusters!
Karlynn’s Tips
- Feel free to add any of your favorite healthy choices, such as nuts, dried berries, coconut, or mini chocolate chips.
- Using sale items from the grocery store can make homemade granola even cheaper. Watch for those sales!
This is a great recipe for when you want to save money! I don’t buy granola anymore, we make our own at home and change it up when we feel like it. Let me know in the comments below what type you made and how it turned out!
Happy baking!
Love,
Karlynn
More Breakfast Recipes
How to Make Your Own Granola Clusters
Ingredients
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅓ cup honey melted
- ¼ cup canola oil coconut oil or a neutral-flavored oil will also work
- 2 large egg whites beaten well
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Add Ins
- ¼ cup nuts of choice
- ¼ cup dried fruit of choice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In one large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
- Once combined, add the fruit and nut combination of choice.
- In a second smaller bowl, combine the melted honey, canola oil, egg whites, and vanilla. Once thoroughly mixed, pour the honey mixture over the oat mixture. Mix until combined.
- Place onto the baking sheet and press firmly into clumps. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until the clusters are light golden in color.
- Remove and let cool completely, then break into pieces.
- Store in a closed container for up to a week, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
- You can make a layer of granola that you break up, or drop the mixture into little piles to make clusters and bake like that.
- Nutrition is for the entire batch and will vary depending on what nuts and fruit you add to this recipe
Nutrition
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Melisa R says
I ADORE this recipe! I didn’t add nuts, but did add a combo of raisin and craisins. The clusters are perfect to add to homemade yogurt, sweetness is on point, not too much at all. In fact, the hubby liked this so much, he immediately commented that I needed to make it again as he was snacking on it! Definitely a keeper!
Karlynn says
I am SO glad to hear you guys enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for letting me know!
melissa says
i love this recipe!
just so happened that we didn’t have honey at home so i used 2 egg whites + 89g brown sugar as substitute.
The clusters stuck well, was chewy with a slight crunch, sweetness was just nice 🙂
mels says
i love this recipe! didn’t have honey at home so i used 2 egg whites + 89g brown sugar as substitute. The clusters stuck well, was chewy with a slight crunch, sweetness was just nice 🙂
Robin says
Great recipe! I added 2 Tablespoons peanut butter, 4 teaspoons dark chocolate cocoa and up’d honey to 1/2 cup, baked for 30 minutes. Came out amazing 🤩
Suesue says
This is a yum recipe, the degrees is 300 F not C, my bad I didn’t click until it was 15 mintues cooked and quite brown … I will be making it again but cook at 150C not 200…
I used about 1/2 cup of honey cause comments were saying it needed more, I think I’ll stick to 1/3 cup next time.
Also another tip, I mixed it with a silicon spatular rather than my hands, worked perfectly.
and you do have to wait until it’s cold to have clusters, my first try was very churchy
Thanks again for sharing this recipe, so quick and easy and lot’s cheaper than store bought 🙂
Jackie says
how much fruit and nuts?
Cbj says
Great recipe . I did tweak it a bit and turned my oven to 250 bc my oven runs hot. I didn’t get it to cluster so I’m thinking I need more liquid but it was good none the less. Wayyyyy cheaper than buying $6 box of granola that’s way too sweet anyways. I often never buy this bc this family is on a budget and I’m the only one that eats granola cereal . Thank you .
Michelle Carter says
Really easy and good. Added some sliced almonds, pecans and walnuts. Perfect since I eat granola daily with blueberries and yogurt. This will become a staple in our house.
Claire says
How long does it last (or when does it expire) when you store in an air tight container? And would a ziplock bag work?
Carmen Werner says
Terrific granola recipe! I followed exactly & added 1/4 c. Of minced almonds & 2 Tb of sunflower seeds. Harder to cluster, but halfway thru baking smashed all down & when done broke up to nice pieces….Delish… thx bunches Katlynn 4 super good recipe I will pass on!!!!! cw
Evie says
This recipe is amazing!! I added 2 heaped tbsp peanut butter and it was divine so definitely add that. It also allows me to add loads of seeds that I don’t usually like the taste of without really tasting them. Also also didn’t add any sugar and made sure to add some salt to taste, which made for the perfect salty-sweet granola
Cara Cuda says
This recepie is my favorite granola recepie, I have tried MANY AND THIS ONE IS THE BEST!
Shunda Crockett says
I made this and that turned out great! Added sliced almond, cranberries and sunflower seeds.. Delicious
cj says
My boyfriend and I made it and it was delicious! Totally better than any store bought granola. Just sweet enough without feeling like i’m eating a crunchy sugar cube! 10/10 recommend, and will be making again 🙂
Mr. Kitchen Magpie says
Awesome thanks for trying it! Glad you enjoyed it.
Ben says
My girlfriend and I love this recipe! Not too sweet, not too crazy, simple, quick–a new breakfast go-to!
solange sharkie says
So, am I the only one here that noticed the lack of information on nuts to be added? Or is it supposed to be obvious as to how much to add? I get that it’s the fruit and nuts of choice but too many would change the ratio of other ingredients would it not?
Dex says
I was unable to form clusters because it was not sticky enough and it was falling apart easily. I just put everything on parching paper in an oven tray and baked it at 150°C (without fan), but I was taking it out every 10 minutes or so to give it a stir. It took about 40 minutes. Even without the clusters, this was down the best granola I have ever had. Sweetness was perfect, taste was amazing in general. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Zi Yi says
you can’t stir it, you will break the cluster
Lindsay Long says
Same with me! I’m making it right now and I was not able to form into clusters. I put it all on the baking sheet lined with parchment and pressed down evenly. I made one batch with brown sugar and the other sugar free with monk fruit sweetener. I’ll see how it goes!!
foodiefarz says
What could I substitute the canola oil for?
Cam says
I’ve been using avocado oil. Any neutral flavored oil with relatively high heat would work. Peanut oil maybe.
Skindvall says
I used coconut oil.
Deb Kelley says
Amazing recipe. We spread the mixture on a parchment lined baking sheet. Once cooled, my husband helped me break into clusters. This has become our go to snack. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Barb says
Coconut oil
Cherie says
Was nothing like pictured. Read the comments and added a lot more honey but it still turned out nothing like pictured, though I did manage to get the oats to somewhat stick together.
Ximena says
This recipe is a whole nother level. I can’t begin to explain how amazing this recipe is. I will put it in 3 words: Easy and Scrumptious. It literally took me 15 minutes since it was my first time doing it and didn’t want to mess up but if I would do it a second time I would do it like in 5 minutes; it’s that easy. The taste, just wow it is so perfect. I wanted granola but because of the whole pandemic, I couldn’t find one that I would like since I like to take the sweetness of the granola and mix it up with just natural yogurt and the flavors compliment each other so freaking well. Decided to look a recipe up and this did it for me, by far the best. ** Little Disclaimer: the recipe calls for 1/3 cup of honey and I ended up using around 3/4 cup. I read the comments beforehand so I got my whole bottle of natural honey ready to be used but yeah just keep in mind you will use a whole lot of honey. Other than that, I would marry this granola in a blink of an eye.
Valeria D'Annibale says
Made this and came out perfect! I tried many times before but they never came out like clusters, this recipe does! I didn’t even form the clusters with my hands, I just spread the mix on the tray and baked it as a whole, then broke with my hands afterwards. Deeeeelicious!
tannachtonfarm says
Excellent! and exactly what i was looking for. I linked to this page through my blog. My family loves this mix to the point they no long want to buy the commercial cereal.
Thank you!
tauna
Meagan says
What would be the portion size? Like 1/4cup? 1/8?
ArianaGrande says
Love it!
Donna says
Will sliced almonds get too done if added?
Cam says
If the slivered almonds are pre-roasted they’ll taste burnt. But its really easy to add mixins afterwards and have it mixed in storage, or mix just what you like when you serve it out, some days almonds some days walnuts! Yum!
Caitlin says
I printed out this exact same recipe in 2014, from chow.com, originally by Roxanne Webber (it’s still in my recipe binder). It’s a great recipe, bummed Roxanne isn’t getting the credit.
Karlynn Johnston says
Hi Caitlyn, This recipe has been on this website since at least 2012 – I went back and looked; it’s easy to do. Do remember that websites steal from many original food bloggers; I have been doing this since 2009. A lot of us have been around BEFORE some of the large popular food websites.
abri12 says
is this recipe good possibly for making it to cereal ? Because i have milk sitting in the fridge waiting to be used for something valuable
Tyler says
I couldn’t get it to cluster…. Taste was good, but it’s just loose oats now…. How can they stay together sand find out like the picture? More brown sugar or honey to make them stick? Please help.
Mary Claire says
What you need is more honey. You probably have figured that out by reading the comments, but if not, yeah, you may need to add more honey. Hahaha this was written 7 months ago, but I hope it still heps.
abri12 says
is this recipe good possibly for making cereal? because i have milk in the fridge waiting to get a bite at the granola
Geena says
Tried this… absolutely delicious however I was not able to get the clusters stuck together. Once I added a tad more honey, it helped but nowhere near how it is in the picture or the pre-packaged stuff. Any tips on how to make the clusters?
Tiffany says
@Geena so what I did was had a little bowl of water next to me and when i picked up a cluster i dipped it quickly in water (dont soak it just a quick dip) which helped it hold together. then i put it in oven and once cooked took it out, let it cool and once it cooled it was stuck together!
Lynne says
just made this – came out great. Delicious! I’ll have to make more tomorrow. 🙂
Deb says
I would rather not add brown sugar. Any healthy substitute?
Kendra McKibbin says
Love this! This is my go to granola recipe. Thank you for sharing!
-Kendra
A Canadian Foodie says
Everything homemade is SOOOOOOO much better. Bet the kiddies love to help with this!
XO
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