We make this cinnamon granola with rolled oats, quinoa, and chia seeds, and sweeten it with coconut sugar and maple syrup. It's super easy, healthy-ish, and tastes better than store-bought granola.
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Why We Love This Granola
Our two-year-old daughter recently discovered yogurt with granola and now she's obsessed. We were going through multiple bags of Purely Elizabeth granola a week, so I decided to make it at home instead.
This cinnamon granola recipe tastes super similar to (and is inspired by) Purely Elizabeth's original flavor, but it doesn't require a trip to the store and is a lot cheaper. It's also full of wholesome, healthy ingredients and isn't overly sweet.
Looking for other easy breakfast recipes? Try our strawberry protein bars, blueberry, banana, and oatmeal muffins, or greek yogurt scrambled eggs.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
Avocado oil or coconut oil: Either of these work; we usually use avocado oil, but coconut oil is perfectly good too. If you use coconut oil, make sure it's in a liquid state and not solid.
Vanilla extract: Pure vanilla extract works best (we buy big bottles at Costco), but imitation vanilla will work in a pinch.
Ground cinnamon: This one is a given and is pretty non-negotiable—you can't have cinnamon granola without the cinnamon!
Rolled oats: Rolled oats and old-fashioned oats can be used interchangeably (they're the same thing).
Maple syrup: The maple syrup sweetens this granola and serves as a liquid in the recipe. You can substitute with honey, but I wouldn't recommend replacing it with sugar.
Quinoa: We like to throw quinoa into our granola because (a) it's in the Purely Elizabeth granola that we love so much and (b) it has a ton of health benefits and adds some great crunch. If you don't like quinoa, you can leave it out or replace it with flaxseeds.
Chia seeds: Chia seeds add more great texture and health benefits. If you don't like chia seeds or don't have any on hand, flaxseeds or hemp hearts would be great substitutes.
Coconut sugar: You can substitute maple sugar or brown sugar if you don't have coconut sugar.
Optional: Raisins, dried cranberries, or nuts
See recipe card for full ingredient list and amounts.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 300°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step 2: Add oil, sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon to a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. In a separate large mixing bowl, combine salt, oats, quinoa, and chia seeds.
Step 3: Slowly add the oat mixture to the wet mixture, stirring as you go. Mix until everything is combined and all of the oats are equally coated in the wet mixture.
Step 4: Dump the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and spread it out until it covers most of the baking sheet. Pat it all together so it's one big rectangle without any gaps (this will ensure that the granola clumps).
Step 5: Bake for 20 minutes, stirring halfway. After stirring, make sure you pat it together again.
Step 6: Allow your granola to cool completely before breaking it into pieces. Store in an air-tight container for up to a month.
Serving Ideas
Here are some ways we love serving this cinnamon granola:
- With milk: I love eating this granola like cereal with cow's milk or oat milk.
- Over yogurt: It's also super tasty with plain or flavored yogurt.
- In a loaded yogurt bowl: This is my personal favorite—eat this granola in a yogurt bowl with berries, nut butter, and a drizzle of honey.
Optional Add-Ins
Once this granola is done baking, you can add additional ingredients. We love:
- Roasted almonds
- Roasted pecans
- Raisins
- Dried cranberries
- Shredded coconut (this is great lightly toasted too)
Frequently asked questions
Store this granola in an air-tight container or baggie for up to a month. We store ours in a canister or mason jar.
We keep our base recipe super basic and then add ingredients after it's done baking. We love roasted nuts (almonds and pecans are both great), raisins, dried cranberries, and shredded coconut.
When the granola first comes out of the oven, it won't be crunchy. It will become harder as it cools, so resist the urge to break it up or eat it until it's done cooling.
📖 Recipe
Cinnamon Granola
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 cups 1x
Description
We make this cinnamon granola with rolled oats, quinoa, and chia seeds, and sweeten it with coconut sugar and maple syrup. It's super easy, healthy-ish, and tastes better than store-bought granola.
Ingredients
½ cup avocado oil or melted coconut oil
¼ cup coconut sugar
¼ cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
4 cups rolled oats (old fashioned oats)
¼ cup quinoa
¼ cup chia seeds
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 300°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add oil, sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon to a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. In a separate large mixing bowl, combine salt, oats, quinoa, and chia seeds.
- Slowly add the oat mixture to the wet mixture, stirring as you go. Mix until everything is combined and all of the oats are equally coated in the wet mixture.
- Dump the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and spread it out until it covers most of the baking sheet. Pat it all together so it's one big rectangle without any gaps (this will ensure that the granola clumps).
- Bake for 20 minutes, stirring halfway. After stirring, make sure you pat it together again.
- Allow your granola to cool completely before breaking it into pieces. Store in an air-tight container for up to a month.
Notes
- Optionally, add raisins, nuts, dried cranberries, or coconut after your granola is done cooking.
- Use gluten-free oats for gluten-free granola.
- Nutritional information is only an estimate.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ½ cup
- Calories: 271
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 101.6 mg
- Fat: 10.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 34 g
- Protein: 5.1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Michael says
Love this granola recipe, it was really easy to make and taste really good days later!