Homemade Cranberry Orange Almond Granola

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Store bought granola is good, but have you ever tried making your own granola from scratch? It’s actually pretty easy and really tasty! This Homemade Cranberry Orange Almond Granola combines some of our favorite breakfast flavors (cranberry and orange) with crunchy almonds and almond butter for an added protein punch. This is definitely something you should make to brighten up your morning yogurt!

We don’t always have a ton of time to make breakfast, so we’re usually looking for something we can make ahead and put together quickly each morning. Whether you work from home, go into the office, or work as a stay-at-home parent or caregiver, it can be hard to find the time between meetings or other obligations to make yourself breakfast. That’s one of the reasons why we love making our own granola. It’s the perfect make-ahead breakfast or snack!

Large glass jar filled with homemade granola. A bowl with more granola rests in the background.

Why We Suggest Making Homemade Granola

Sure, buying granola from the store is easy. But homemade granola is surprisingly easy too. Plus, you can control the sweetness level (store-bought granola tends to be a little too sugary for our tastes).

It’s also more economical because you get more bang for your buck. We love ingredients that you can get more than one use out of. Rolled oats are generally not super expensive, and one container of oats will usually last a while and be enough for several batches of granola. The same goes for crisped rice cereal. Buy a box of your favorite brand and use some for this granola and some for those rice krispie treats you can’t stop thinking about! Nuts and dried fruit can be a little pricier, but again, you don’t need a ton for this recipe. Save the rest for later, or use the dried fruit and nuts in salads or baked goods.

It’s also super easy to scale up. Our family clan often gets together over the holidays, and we’ve been in charge of cooking a couple meals for everyone in recent years. And by “everyone,” we mean just shy of 20 people. We made this granola for everyone for breakfast one year, and it was a hit. We just doubled (or maybe tripled) the recipe. It was a popular breakfast option and a snack for anyone who wanted to an afternoon pick-me-up that wasn’t in the form of holiday cookies.

Our Tips for Making the Best Granola

Use a mixture of liquid sweetener and solid sugar. To make sure the granola sticks together nicely and caramelizes, we suggest using a liquid sweetener (like honey or maple syrup) and a solid sugar, like brown sugar.
Include a variety of textures and flavors. We almost always use oats and puffed rice cereal in our granolas because we love their textures together. We also like to throw in nuts, dried fruit, seeds, or coconut chips as additional options.
Bake at a lower temperature. It’s rare that we cook things at a low temperature, but in order to properly dry out granola so that it gets crunchy, it needs to be cooked at a lower temperature. We bake this one at 325°F for about 25 to 30 minutes. Bonus Tip: all ovens are a little different, so keep an eye on the granola as it bakes to make sure it doesn’t get too toasty around the edges. If it’s browning too quickly, you can turn your oven down to 300°F or reduce the cook time.
Let. It. Cool. It’s so hard to wait, but granola needs to cool before you eat it. Otherwise, it’ll still be chewy. It will crisp up as it cools, so even though it smells amazing right out of the oven, you really should let it cool completely before eating it.

Ingredients in Homemade Cranberry Orange Almond Granola

We find it’s helpful to separate the ingredients into 2 main categories: wet ingredients and dry ingredients. Be sure to check out the recipe card below for the exact measurements.

Wet Ingredients

Almond butter – we really like almond butter with this because it adds a nice level of nuttiness and extra protein. You can use store-bought almond butter or make your own! If you don’t like almonds, you can use peanut butter, cashew butter, or any other nut butter.
Coconut oil – we use coconut oil in this recipe, but you could also use regular oil or melted butter.
Honey – the honey provides a nice stickiness and a subtle flavor (plus, who doesn’t love nut butter with honey?) in this recipe. If you want to keep it vegan, you can use maple syrup instead.
Brown sugar – the brown sugar adds a light molasses-y flavor, and it also helps the granola toast up too.
Oranges – oranges go so well with cranberries (which we’ve added to the dry ingredients in this recipe), and the zest brings an even brighter citrusy flavor.
Vanilla extract – we often vote for adding vanilla to sweet recipes, and it’s perfect in this.
Salt – adding a little salt helps to bring out the natural sweetness and nuttiness.

Dry Ingredients

Rolled oats – make sure not to use steel cut oats or instant oats here. They won’t work as well (steel cut are too chewy and instant are too flaky). Regular rolled oats are best for granola.
Crisped rice cereal – this adds a nice crunch and lightness to the granola.
Almonds – since we’re using almond butter in this recipe, we wanted to punch up the almond flavor even more by including chopped almonds. We use raw, unsalted almonds because we’ll be seasoning and roasting everything in the granola together. If you don’t eat almonds, feel free to use peanuts or another tree nut here.
Dried cranberries – the cranberries add a nice tanginess to this recipe and bring a warm, fruity flavor. Plus, they go so perfectly with the orange zest and juice.

Baking tray filled with a layer of Homemade Cranberry Orange Almond Granola.

How to Make Homemade Cranberry Orange Almond Granola

STEP 0.5: First, preheat your oven to 325°F and line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

STEP 1: Combine all of the wet ingredients together in a small pot set over medium low heat. Cook everything until the coconut oil melts and the almond butter mixes with the other ingredients. Alternatively, you could make this off heat by using melted coconut oil and mixing it with the other wet ingredients in a small bowl.

STEP 2: In a separate large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients together. Pour in the wet ingredients and gently mix until the dry ingredients are fully coated. Be careful not to mix too aggressively or you’ll break up the crisped rice cereal.

STEP 3: Spread the granola onto the prepared baking sheet in an even layer. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the tray from the oven and toss or stir the granola and then rearrange it in an even layer. For bigger clumps of granola, lightly press it down after you spread it out on the baking sheet. Bake the granola for another 10 minutes, then stir, rearrange, and press it into an even layer again. Bake for another 5 to 10 minutes until the granola is golden brown in color.

Note: all ovens are a little different, so keep an eye on the granola as it bakes to make sure it doesn’t get too toasty around the edges. If it’s browning too quickly, you can turn your oven down to 300°F or reduce the cook time.

STEP 4: Remove the granola from the oven and let it cool for at least 20 to 30 minutes before eating. We know this is hard (it will smell so good after it’s cooked!), but doing this is super important if you want to avoid soggy granola. Letting it cool will allow it to dry out and become crunchy.

FINISH: Serve the granola over yogurt, with milk, or eat it by the handful. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a month.

FAQs: Homemade Cranberry Almond Granola

This looks great, but is it really worth it to make your own granola?

Absolutely! Making granola at home allows you to control the amount of sweetness you want and the overall flavor profile. Plus, many store-bought granola varieties skimp on fiber-rich and protein-forward ingredients, like oats, nuts or nut butters, seeds, or fruit. When you make your own, you can add more of these ingredients!

Is homemade granola healthy?

Homemade granola has tons of health benefits. It’s made with oats, which are one of those wonder-ingredients. They’re full of fiber, which makes you stay fuller longer, helps with digestion, reduces risk of heart disease, and helps promote healthy gut bacteria. This granola is also packed with protein from the almonds and almond butter. We like that we can control the amount of sugar in homemade granola too, which is a benefit over store-bought.

What should I eat homemade granola with?

We love having this granola with plain, non-fat, Greek yogurt for a probiotic punch, or with a little milk and fresh fruit.

How long does this granola last?

If kept in an airtight container at room temperature, leftover homemade granola should last about a month.

Bowl with yogurt, honey, and Homemade Cranberry Orange Almond Granola in the middle.