You Don’t Need a Granola Recipe, Just This Golden Ratio

Photo by Travis Rainey, Prop styling by Sean Dooley, Food styling by Taneka Morris

Where there are languishing nuts, seeds, and rolled oats, there is homemade granola begging to be made. And this granola recipe (if you can even call it a recipe) is less a directive than an invitation to customize to your heart’s content.

Making granola at home has a few things going for it. It’s cheaper than store-bought granola, for one. It can be healthier if you choose for it to be—and it can certainly be engineered toward your particular dietary preferences. And, because it’s a blank canvas for your exact granola proclivities, it’s objectively tastier.

The demands of making your own granola are few. You don’t even need to adhere to a persnickety granola recipe. Instead, we offer our Golden Granola Ratio. It’s a mere skeleton of a recipe, with general measurements, cook times, seasoning principles, and the like—but the rest is entirely up to you. Keep it in your back pocket and let your imagination do the rest of the work. Throw chia seeds and dried cranberries in the first batch, then chocolate chips and shredded coconut in the next. Follow the rules and your homemade granola recipe will be just that: Yours. And it will always yield a crispy, toasty batch ready to hang out with yogurt, milk, or just be happy to be along for the ride.

Remember: The best granola is the one you make for yourself. Keep this basic formula at hand and forever reap the rewards.

The golden granola ratio

You have just one thing to remember: 6 parts dry to 1 part wet. Your ‘parts’ can be any measurement based on how many servings you want: 1 cup, 1 bin scoop, one juice glass, one cereal bowl, one palmful (though this last option can get messy). Set this ratio to memory (or write it down), then head to the kitchen and preheat your oven to 300°.

The crunch factor

There’s only one non-negotiable in granola, and that’s rolled oats. The rest is up to you. Don’t use quick-cooking oats, which don’t offer the same texture as regular old-fashioned rolled oats.

Other dry ingredients you might want to include are your favorite nuts and seeds and/or other rolled, flaked, or puffed grains. Think chopped pecans, pumpkin seeds, cashews, pistachios, sesame seeds, puffed millet, coconut flakes, chia seeds, and flax seeds. Or cereals like bran or cornflakes, Cheerios, or puffed rice. For a nice balance of flavor and texture, aim for a mix of at least four dry ingredients; a good ratio to follow is 3 parts oats, 1 part nuts, 1 part seeds, and 1 part something else. Toss everything in a large bowl until well mixed.

Something sticky

To turn those grains, nuts, and seeds into a magical heap of crunchy, golden clumps, you must coat them in fat and sugar. If you start with six cups of dry stuff, you’ll need one cup of wet stuff. I usually use one large egg white for this amount of granola, then use equal portions of liquid sweetener and liquid fat to reach the amount of wet ingredients required. The egg white isn’t essential, but it helps create larger clumps and makes the granola extra crunchy with a glossier finish. You can also use a whole egg for more protein.

Choose a fat whose flavor you can get excited about, like warmed coconut oil, ghee, extra virgin olive oil, or a combination. For a neutral flavor, try grapeseed, canola, or sunflower seed oil. You could also mix a fat-rich ingredient like tahini or peanut butter with oil until it’s a runny consistency.

For the sweetener, it’s easiest to use one in a liquid state (like honey; coconut nectar; or agave, brown rice, or maple syrup). But, if you want to try infusing your granola with other flavors, like fresh ginger or citrus peels, make simple syrup by blending sugar and water, adding the aromatics to it before straining them out. Whisk your wet ingredients to combine in a small bowl, then pour the mixture over your dry mix and toss well until everything is thoroughly coated.

No one likes a bland granola

Once you’ve got everything mixed, taste it. How’s it doing? You want a little spice in there, right? Ground cinnamon is always nice, as is vanilla extract, cardamom, nutmeg, and salt. Add in as little or as much spice as you want, but always add salt (about one teaspoon for our six-cup hypothetical)—it perks up all the flavors. Taste again; if you want more sweetness, sprinkle in a bit of white or brown sugar.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, then spread your granola mixture in an even layer. If that layer is too thick, get another rimmed sheet pan and divide the mixture between the two. Bake until the granola is toasty, golden brown, about 45 minutes.

Zhuzh it up

If you want dried fruit or chopped chocolate in your granola, wait until after it’s baked. Stir fruit such as dried cranberries, cherries, raisins, or sliced dried apricots into the hot granola right after you pull it out of the oven. For things like chocolate or toffee, wait until the granola is cool to the touch before tossing in your mix-ins. I recommend using about 1 part mix-ins of this nature, but this is your granola: if you want half chewy dried fruit, half crispy oat clusters, go for it!

Let your homemade granola cool to room temperature completely before digging in or transferring it to a jar or airtight container. It will keep in your pantry for about two weeks and even longer if you keep it in the freezer.

How to Make Granola

• Yield: Makes 1½ quarts granola

• Total time: 1 hour plus cooling

Ingredients

• 3 cups old-fashioned oats

• 3 cups dry mix-ins (nuts such as pecans, walnuts, pistachios, or cashews; seeds such as sunflower seeds, pepitas, or flax seeds; cereal such as Chex, puffed quinoa, bran flakes, or Cheerios; or unsweetened coconut flakes, cacao nibs, etc.)

• 1 large egg white (optional)

• About ½ cup liquid fat (such as melted coconut oil, extra-virgin olive oil, or melted butter)

• About ½ cup liquid sweetener (such as maple syrup, honey, agave syrup, or preserves mixed with water)

• 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, plus more

• 1 tsp. spice (such as cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, pumpkin pie spice; optional)

• ½ tsp. vanilla extract (optional)

• 1 cup mix-ins (dried fruit such as apricots, cherries, cranberries, blueberries, or raisins; freeze-dried fruit such as strawberry slices, mango pieces, or banana chips; chocolate chips; toffee bits; or other candies; optional)

Instructions

1. Place rack in center of oven; preheat oven to 300°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

2. Combine 3 cups old-fashioned oats and 3 cups dry mix-ins in a large bowl.

3. Combine 1 large egg white (if using) with about ½ cup liquid fat and about ½ cup liquid sweetener to equal 1 cup total in a small bowl and whisk until no streaks remain. Add 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, 1 tsp. spice (if using), and ½ tsp. vanilla extract (if using) and whisk to combine. Pour wet ingredients over dry mix and gently toss with a rubber scraper until dry ingredients are well coated. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired.

4. Spread granola mixture in an even layer on prepared baking sheet. Bake, stirring gently every 15 minutes, until granola is toasty, golden brown, and dry, 40–45 minutes.

5. If adding traditional dried fruit: Add 1 cup dried fruit to hot granola and toss to combine.
   If adding freeze-dried fruit, chocolate, or candy: Let granola cool until bottom of baking sheet is no longer warm. Add 1 cup mix-ins and toss to combine.

6. Transfer cooled granola to airtight container and store at room temperature for up to two weeks or freeze for up to 3 months.

Editor’s note: This method for making granola was first printed in September 2015. The article has been updated by Li Goldstein.

Originally Appeared on Epicurious