Our Homemade Vegan Granola Recipe

Crispy, sweet, and salty, our homemade vegan granola is naturally sweetened, gluten-free, and completely addicting.

This granola recipe is loaded with oats and almonds, and it’s flavored with maple, coconut, vanilla, and cinnamon for a perfect breakfast or snack on the go.

It’s also super easy to make.

How to Make Vegan Granola

I am absolutely in love with maple almond granola. It makes the entire house smell so wonderful, I’m basically swooning all day. I almost wish I made smaller batches more often.

But let’s be real here. I already spend too much time in the kitchen. And this easy vegan granola stores well, so I just make a huge double batch whenever we run out. It’ll keep for a month in the cupboard if you put it in an airtight container.

(Though I’ve heard of people needing to store the granola in smaller containers in the freezer to slow down their consumption!)

With granola, I like to keep it simple. So much vegan granola is filled with ten different kinds of nuts and seeds, with chocolate and fruit, and way way too much sugar.

Instead, I created this basic, healthy vegan granola recipe. I never get sick of the maple almond flavor, but you can easily swap in your favorite nuts, seeds, and fruit to satisfy whatever you’re craving.

The gluten-free granola is loaded with old-fashioned oats and almonds, and it has hints of maple, coconut, vanilla, and cinnamon for a warm, sweet (and healthy!) snack on the go. It also pairs great with unsweetened yogurt and fresh fruit for a delicious and nutritious breakfast.

• Sweet and salty. The vegan granola recipe is naturally sweetened with maple syrup for a light, sweet flavor. Don’t forget to add the salt, which balances that sweetness and helps make all the nuts and seeds extra yummy when they get roasted in the oven.
• Crispy and chunky for easy snacking. The granola is baked until it is toasted a light brown, and then crisps up as it cools. Down below I’ll give you my tips for getting the granola to stick in big chunks, which makes it perfect for easy snacking on the go.
• So simple to make. This is my basic granola recipe, using staples you probably already have in your panty. It’s super easy to make, and honestly, an easy recipe to memorize, if you start to make it regularly like I do.
• Nutritious breakfast or snack. This healthy granola recipe has tons of fiber and protein from nuts and whole grain oats. And it has a surprising amount of calcium from maple syrup! It doesn’t have nearly as much sugar or salt as the stuff you can buy in stores. Use unrefined oil, like virgin coconut oil or olive oil, for a dose of healthy plant-based fats, and no hidden trans fats.

Final Thoughts

Once you try making this simple homemade granola, there’s no way you’ll be going back to the expensive store-bought version!

If you try this granola and love this recipe, please share it with your friends. And if you have any comments or questions, or want to share your favorite version of this simple recipe, leave a comment down below. Thanks so much!

Q&A

What are some good additions to vegan granola?

Sometimes, you aren’t always in the mood for simple granola. Luckily, this granola vegan granola recipe is infinitely customizable to work with whatever combination you are craving.

Here are some of my favorite mix-ins:

• Dried fruit. I usually leave the dried fruit out because I eat lots of granola with yogurt and fresh fruit. But when I’m going out for a hike, I just toss the granola in a bag with some dried cranberries, raisins, or chopped up apricots.
• Nuts. You can sub the almonds with pecans, walnuts, cashews, peanuts. Or, you know, mix it up, and go nuts!
• Seeds. Pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and sunflower seeds are my favorite additions. You can also pump up the omega-3s by adding flax or chia seeds to the mix.
• Coconut flakes. I’m not someone who just puts dried coconut in everything, but a bit of chewy coconut is a great addition to this simple granola.
• Chocolate chips. I like using mini chocolate chips for a sweet boost. It’s great if your kids need some enticement to eat their snack during a long and cranky road trip. Make sure to add these after the granola has cooled down, or you’ll get chocolate granola. (Which isn’t bad, but probably not what you intended.)
• Peanut butter. Add 1/4 cup melted peanut butter to the coconut oil and maple syrup, and stir that into the oats. It’s great with those mini chocolate chips!
• Spices. This granola recipe is subtly warmed with just cinnamon, but in the wintertime, I like to add more of a full pumpkin pie spice mixture. You can try adding nutmeg, clove, ginger, or allspice. Keep it to under a tablespoon total of spices, or it can get a bit overwhelming.

How can I make chunky granola clumps?

I love big chunks of granola for snacking. It’s so much easier than grabbing loose handfuls and dropping granola crumbs all over myself.

Here are my tips for getting those delicious granola chunks:

• Press the granola into the pan. I do this before baking, after stirring halfway through, and then right after they come out of the oven.
• Don’t overbake the granola. The granola should be a light golden brown, baked just enough to toast the oats and nuts. The granola crisps up as it cools, so you definitely don’t want to bake it until it’s dark brown and crispy, or it will be a dry, crumbly mess.
• Let the granola cool completely in the pan. I mean, sneak a bit if you need to. But after you pull the granola out and press it down one last time, allow it to fully cool undisturbed so it can harden into clumps.
• Add in dried fruit or chocolate chips after it has cooled. Don’t disturb your cooling granola to add in the fruit. Just mix it in after it’s cool.

Is this vegan granola gluten-free?

You bet! This granola is naturally gluten-free, no substitutions needed.

Just make sure you use gluten-free oats, as that is the ingredient most likely to be contaminated with wheat. As always, if you are extremely sensitive to gluten, look for nuts, oils, and syrup that are all certified gluten-free.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Virgin coconut oil. I love the hint of coconut flavor from virgin coconut oil, but you can easily use refined coconut oil for a neutral taste. Other unrefined oils will work as well if you want to avoid the saturated fats in coconut oil (like avocado or olive oil).
• Nuts. This granola recipe calls for almonds, but you can use walnuts, pecans, pepitas, sunflower seeds, you name it! Chop up any large nuts for easier snacking.
• Maple syrup. You can use another liquid sweetener like agave. You can also make an easy brown sugar syrup with 1/2 cup of packed brown sugar dissolved in 1/2 cup of warm water. (Add 1/2 tsp maple extract if you want that flavor.) I haven’t tried this granola recipe with low-calorie keto sweeteners. I think the granola might not clump as well without actual sugar to help bind it together, but if you try it, please let me know how it works in the comments!

More Granola Recipes

What can you make with vegan granola? Try making a vegan parfait!