I had lost the knack for making granola after relying on store-bought granola for a few years. After I moved to Lisbon and set a goal to consume more homemade items, I started making this crunchy homemade granola again and regretted spending so much time using store-bought granola.
What I find cool about preparing it myself is being able to choose exactly the final result and also vary it according to my current mood. There are times when I crave more nuts, and other times when I want a sweeter and less healthy granola.
In this granola, for example, I wanted to create a mix of healthy and less nutritionally dense ingredients, but still achieve a truly delicious result.
The ingredients I used
- Oats: ideally, use thick oats, but I had medium flakes at home, so that’s what I used.
- Corn Flakes: the kind of corn flakes we ate as kids. I used a version without sugar.
- Puffed Brown Rice: it adds volume and crunchiness. It can easily be substituted.
- Coarsely Chopped Walnuts
- Seed Mix: mine includes sesame seeds, flaxseeds and sunflower seeds, but any seeds will work well.
- Ground Cinnamon
- Freshly Ground Cardamom: store-bought cardamom powder usually lacks aroma and flavor. I opened the cardamom pods, removed the seeds and crushed them with the back of a knife. It didn’t turn into a powder, but it worked.
- Brown Sugar
- Honey: it will be delicious to substitute it with molasses or use half and half.
- Coconut Oil: any oil can be used, but I really like the flavor of coconut oil.
The Crunchiness
What makes this granola crunchy is the honey and brown sugar, creating a caramelized coating around the ingredients, so it’s essential that they are well mixed with everything.
Also, to ensure a crunchy granola, it’s important to spread the mixture in the pan not too thick, so it bakes evenly.
It’s also important to take it out of the oven every 20 minutes to stir the granola and spread it out again, ensuring even baking.
Take it out of the oven only when it’s golden brown. It comes out of the oven still a bit “soft,” but as it cools, it quickly becomes crunchy and should be transferred to an airtight container.
This granola forms pieces that stick together and are mega crunchy, but if you want a looser granola, just add more coconut oil. In one experiment, I added twice the amount of coconut oil in this recipe, and it turned out very loose. You can also break the pieces apart with your hands.
How to Make Substitutions
Everything in this recipe can be substituted. If you don’t have an allergy or don’t have something you don’t consume in the recipe, I recommend making it as close to mine the first time and then making changes according to your taste.
To substitute ingredients, I recommend keeping the proportions. For example: if you want to remove the corn flakes and add more oats, coconut flakes, and pumpkin seeds, then you can replace 1 cup of corn flakes with 1 cup of this mixture of ingredients you want to use.
This will ensure that both the honey and the coconut oil are sufficient to cover the final volume of ingredients and you’ll have a tasty homemade crunchy granola.
How to Make Crunchy Homemade Granola
There’s nothing simpler than making granola. Just put all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix very well so that the honey and coconut oil are well distributed throughout the granola.
After that, spread it in a pan, making a “thin” and even layer. Then bake in a preheated oven at 150°C and remove it every 20 minutes to stir.
It should be taken out of the oven when it’s nicely golden brown and, after cooling, immediately transferred to an airtight container to prevent it from softening.
And that’s it… this is really a straightforward recipe. I promise you’ll like it and have fun experimenting with flavors at home. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram if you make it: @casacaroba.
