This salted maple pecan granola is sweet and salty, crunchy, vegan, gluten-free, and it’s the most addicting homemade granola recipe I’ve ever made.
Let’s talk about what we have almost exclusively been eating for the past month. Hint: it starts with GRAN and ends with OLA. And it is so, so good.
Are you a granola fan? Do you eat it with milk, like cereal, or sprinkle it on top of your yogurt? Maybe you only have it as a garnish on açai bowls, or maybe you eat it by the fistful out of the bag. Whatever your feelings about granola, I promise you, this one is going to make you a dedicated fan.
My problem with most store bought granolas is twofold:
- First, they are, as a rule, far too sweet. If you look at the label, even on “healthy” granolas, the second, third, fourth, and even fifth ingredients are variants of sugar. I don’t care if you call it “brown rice syrup” or “pure cane syrup” or “coconut unicorn blossom nectar” – it’s all sugar. And lots of it.
- Second, they aren’t all that fresh and taste kind of stale/cardboard-like. Even the organic non-gmo locally sourced yadda yadda yadda ones. And the clusters are sometimes teeth-breaking. Meh.
So for a number of years I actually kind of avoided granola because I figured it wasn’t healthy for me and it didn’t taste all that great either.
Enter this homemade maple pecan granola. Last fall, Pinch of Yum published a recipe for a homemade pumpkin granola that looked to die for. I decided to try it and loved it. Then I made it a few times more, and tweaked some things like ingredients, ratios, and oven temperatures, and kept making it. For the sake of science, and all. Yeah.
The thing about a homemade granola recipe is, YOU control exactly how much sugar (or in our case, pure maple syrup) goes in there. YOU control the salt level (in my case, on the salty side to interact beautifully with the sweet). YOU create the add-ins you want (and no weird stuff you don’t want). And YOU get to have your whole house (if you live in a one-bedroom apartment like me) smell like heaven while you’re baking it.
No joke, this maple pecan granola is all Brian and I have been eating for breakfast every day for the past month. We really don’t get tired of it – the sweet/salty combination, the crunch, the toasty-ness. It’s SO good.
Steps and Tips
Now, I have a few pointers for success with this maple pecan granola:
- Oven temperature: 325 rather than 350. The lower temperature allows the granola to get toasty, rather than burnt. The line can be crossed quickly, so you need to pay attention towards the end of the baking time.
- Basic ratio: 3 cups oats, 1/2 cup oil, 1/2 cup liquid sweetener, 1 1/2 to 2 cups add-ins. Then you can play around with salt and spices. This makes enough granola to fill one standard-sized cookie sheet. It lasts us about a week.
- Steps: whisk the wet ingredients and spices in a large bowl until well-combined, add the dry ingredients, and stir until everything is evenly coated. Then scrape onto a rimmed parchment-lined baking sheet (for easier cleanup) and spread out in an even layer. If your baking sheets are small, you might need two.
- Time formula: bake 20 minutes, pull out and stir, bake 20 minutes, pull out and stir, bake 5-10 minutes more, watching carefully, until browned and toasty, but NOT burnt. It bears repeating that the line between toasty and burnt is VERY thin, especially with pecans. That’s not to say I won’t still eat them.
- Yield: if you prefer a small batch maple pecan granola, just halve all of the ingredients. Halve the bake time as well (so 10 minutes, stir, 10 minutes, stir, 2-3 minutes or until toasted to your liking).
It’s worth noting that this method makes more of a crispy, cereal-like granola than a cluster-y granola. That’s how I prefer it, because it lends itself to all sorts of uses, for example:
- Generously
sprinkledpiled on morning yogurt with berries (my preferred method) - A crunchy, absurdly delicious topping for peanut butter toast (Brian’s preferred method)
- Sandwiched in the middle of a PB&J (also Brian; are you sensing a theme?)
- Eaten by the handful out of a large ziploc bag while pacing around the kitchen (ok, that was both of us)
- Baked into cookies (woah, I just thought of that and need to do it immediately)
If you would rather have more clusters, I’ve read that you can add an egg white to the wet ingredients, which helps them clump together better as they bake. I haven’t personally tried it though, so experiment at your own risk.
Promise, you’ll love this one!
Salted Maple Pecan Granola
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (100g) olive oil (or melted coconut oil)
- 1/2 cup (156g) pure maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups (288g) rolled oats
- 1 cup (114g) pecans (chopped or halves, your preference)
- 1/2 cup (42g) unsweetened shredded or flaked coconut
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a standard cookie sheet with parchment paper if desired (it’s not necessary, just less messy), and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt until fully combined.
- Add oats, pecans, and coconut to the bowl and stir everything together until the dry ingredients are completely coated in the wet and evenly incorporated.
- Dump the mixture out onto the cookie sheet and spread evenly to form one layer, covering the entire sheet.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, stir so everything gets moved around and flipped over. Bake 20 more minutes. Stir again. Then bake for 5-10 additional minutes, watching carefully to make sure the pecans are not burning (it happens fast). Remove from the oven when toasted to your liking.
- Let the granola cool completely in the pan before placing in an airtight container (I use a large glass jar or large freezer bag). Store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
Video
Notes
Like this recipe? Please rate it and leave a comment or tag me on Instagram @katiebirdbakes, and sign up for my email list to receive my recipes straight to your inbox every time I post!
I have made this granola several times and it never lets me down! The salty mapley taste is just perfect with yogurt and fruits and the pecans really add a nice flavor too. Great recipe overall!
thank you so much!! so glad you love it!
I make a lot of granola and absolutely love this recipe! I don’t add coconut because I’m not a fan but it’s still delicious. I don’t cook it quite as long but take it out after the second 20 minute interval. It’s excellent! Thanks for posting!
love this! thank you!!
So good! Love this recipe! Have made this many times and always have to share the recipe.
thank you so much!!
I make this granola literally weekly. I love it in my yogurt and my husband snacks on it constantly. Super easy and soooo much better than anything store bought!
thank you so much Maddie!!! homemade over store bought every time!
Love this recipe!
Thank you so much Anette! It’s a favorite for us too!
I’ve never tried making my own granola before, but this recipe looked (and was) so easy to follow and just WOW I’m never buying store bought granola again. I will and forever make this granola recipe. Thank you so much for sharing this Katie!!!
Amazing!! Thank you Stella, so glad you love it! I honestly make it at least every couple weeks.
Just discovered your recipes and I love them. Beautiful photos! Everything looks so yummy! Do you think using coconut oil instead of olive oil would be good for this granola?
I used coconut oil, it was delicious. If you’re looking for a more savory granola, then try the olive, but for a breakfast or snacking granola, i would use coconut oil again; it only enhances the flavor of the coconut flakes, without adding unwanted sweetness.
Thanks Christine!
I just made a half batch of this because I was afraid I’d be the only one in the house to eat it. OMG!!! It is fantastic. I’m actually glad I only made a half batch because I probably would have eaten the full batch before anyone else could get near it.
That is an all too common problem when it comes to this recipe 😉 thank you for the great review!!
This recipe is so easy and so delicious. We gave jars full of this granola as Christmas gifts and so many people asked for the recipe (I sent them to the website). It is definitely a crowd pleaser.
Thank you so much Giovanna! So glad everyone enjoyed this! I love the idea of putting it in jars.
My husband loves anything maple pecan and also loves salt plus sweet. He asked if we could try making homemade granola and this recipe was perfect for him! Super easy to make and super delicious! Thanks for making his granola dreams come true! 🙂
Yay! Thank you Krystal – I agree it’s such a great combo!
About to go for round two of the best granola recipe I’ve ever come across. Double batch, again. Thanks!!!
I am so glad you’re enjoying it! Thank you Brett!
Perfect granola! Never going back to store bought again! Thank you 🙏🏽
GIRL! Thank you! So glad you enjoyed them 🙂
Thank you for this recipe! It’s THE BEST granola I’ve ever tasted and very simple to make.
Oh my gosh THANK YOU! Just made my day!! So glad you enjoyed it.
This is by far and away the best granola I have ever made. Super tasty. Thank you for the recipe!
I’m so glad to hear that!! Thank you so much – we love it too and eat it all the time!
This made my whole house smell delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Yay!! Isn’t it a great smell?? So glad you enjoyed it.
If you haven’t tried this yet, you must! Just made a half batch to try it out and it is amazing. Cut back on the time a bit since it was a smaller amount. Really easy to do and great to have on hand for something quick to grab in the morning. (or at least it would be if I stop snacking on it….haven’t stopped since it cooled down a bit!)
Thanks Phoebe! So glad you are loving it 🙂