It's so easy to make maple pecan granola at home! All you need is a handful of pantry staples ingredients and you'll have warming, flavorful granola in less than 30 minutes. You'll never want to go back to store bought again!
I recently started making homemade pecan granola and let me tell you, I am hooked! I thought that making granola would be tedious, but it turns out that it's so easy to do.
Here's why you'll love making granola at home:
- Homemade granola is easy to customize
- More affordable than store bought granola
- It's ready in less than 30 minutes
- Each batch can easily be doubled or even tripled
- Allows more control over added sugars and salt
This pecan granola is accidentally vegan and filled with warming ingredients like cinnamon and cloves. It's similar to my recipe for pecan baked oatmeal, another delicious way to enjoy pecans for breakfast!
Ingredients
- Rolled oats: Quick oats and steel cut oats will not work. Stick to oats labeled "old fashioned" or "rolled oats".
- Cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves: These classic spices add so much warmth (and they make the kitchen smell wonderful!)
- Olive oil: I use a lightly flavored olive oil but any kind will work. You can also use canola oil or avocado oil.
- Maple syrup: Adjust syrup as needed to reach your desired sweetness level. You can also use honey, agave syrup or any other liquid sweetener.
- Raw pecan halves: Swap with walnuts, almonds or peanuts as desired.
- Oranges: Fresh squeezed orange juice and orange zest adds the perfect level of sweetness and tang. You can use tangelos, clementines, cuties or navel oranges.
How to make homemade granola
Before you begin: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet (or half sheet pan) with parchment paper or a baking mat (this is the one that I use).
- Add rolled oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, salt and pecans to a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine.
- Pour in the maple syrup, orange zest, olive oil and fresh orange juice. Use a wooden spoon to thoroughly combine.
- Spread granola as thinly as possible on the baking sheet (see image above for reference).
- Bake at 350 degrees for 16-18 minutes. Halfway through (at the 8 minute mark), remove the granola from the oven and stir the oats. This part is important to make sure that the granola cooks evenly.
- Return to the oven for another 8 minutes. Keep an eye on the pecans to make sure they don't burn. You can tell they are getting overcooked if they turn a deep brown.
The granola will continue crisping up after you remove it from the oven, so don't worry if it still a little soft after 16-18 minutes. Let it cool and firm up for 5 minutes before moving it to a storage container.
Expert tips and recipe FAQ
- Extra add-ins: Chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, shredded coconut or even more nuts can be cooked with the other granola ingredients.
- Dried fruit: Any dried fruit goes well in maple pecan granola (think cranberries, cherries, raisins, etc). Add the dried fruit just after pulling the granola out of the oven.
My favorite combination is granola with yogurt and in parfaits. You can also make your own maple pecan trail mix by adding in extra nuts and dried fruit like cherries, apricots or raisins (any ingredients in my trail mix energy balls would work).
You can keep homemade granola in the fridge for up to two weeks. I usually store mine in a quart sized ball jar.
Yes, granola freezes really well. For best quality, freeze granola for up to 3 months. You can make a double or even triple batch and freeze the extras so that you always have homemade granola on hand!
Looking for similar recipes?
You can use leftover rolled oats in recipes like mocha overnight oats, pumpkin baked oatmeal or even strawberry almond energy balls.
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📖 Recipe
Maple Pecan Granola
Ingredients
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup raw pecan halves
- ⅓ cup maple syrup see note #1
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice see note #2
- 1 teaspoon fresh orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Add rolled oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, salt and pecans to a large mixing bowl. .Pour in the maple syrup, olive oil, fresh orange juice, and fresh orange zest. Use a wooden spoon to thoroughly combine.
- Line a cookie sheet (or half sheet pan) with parchment paper. Spread granola on the parchment paper as thinly as possible.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 16-18 minutes. Halfway through (at the 8 minute mark), remove the granola from the oven and stir the oats. Return to the oven for another 8 minutes. Keep an eye on the pecans to make sure they don't burn.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a storage container. Store refrigerated for up to 7 days.
Notes
- Maple syrup: Adjust to taste. You can use any liquid sweetener you like.
- Oranges: One small orange will yield about 2 tablespoons of orange juice. Choose a clementine, tangerine or cutie.
- One recipe fits perfectly in a quart sized Ball jar.
- Freezing: You can freeze granola for up to 3 months.
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