Homemade Granola Recipe - Budget Bytes (2024)

FAQs

Is granola cheaper to make? ›

Is Homemade Granola Cheaper? Initially, you'll have to spend more money on homemade granola than store-bought. However, over the long run (depending on your recipe) you'll most likely spend less on making your own granola.

Baking time: Increase the baking time for your granola. The longer you bake it, the drier and crunchier it will become. Keep a close eye on it to avoid burning, and stir it occasionally during baking to ensure even toasting.

Clumpy Granola Method: Add Whole Wheat and Almond Flour

First, it adds a combo of whole wheat flour and almond flour (or almond meal), which act as a binder to hold the oat mixture together.

Using the right binding agent in your granola bar recipe is a crucial part of keeping your bars from falling apart. While there are several different sticky ingredients that you can use, we've found that the binding agent that works the best is honey!

Granola may prompt weight gain if eaten in excess, as it can be high in calories from added fats and sugars. What's more, sugar is linked to chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.

Cost Comparison

At the farmers market, really good pre-packaged organic granola costs 50 cents per ounce. In my neighborhood, Kellogg's Lowfat Granola will run you 37 cents per ounce. Cheerios: 43 cents per ounce.

Whether it's homemade or store-bought, properly storing granola will help extend the shelf life and maintain crunchiness. Store granola in an airtight container or tightly sealed zip-top bag in a dry, dark place away from heat.

Until I ran into a clever trick, courtesy of Julia Turshen's new cookbook Simply Julia for getting granola as crispy as you want it: add egg whites. Per Turshen, for every three cups of rolled oats you want to transform into granola, add a ¼ cup each maple syrup and olive oil.

NOTE: The granola will clump and harden while cooling - not during baking. Allow to cool before stirring in the raisins, cranberries, or craisins. If stored in an airtight container, your granola could last for 2 weeks.

Nut butter is a super flavorful fat that serves multiple purposes in granola. It acts as a binding agent—along with additional coconut oil and whatever natural sweetener I've chosen—helping to pull the dry ingredients together into a wet, sticky mass for baking.

How do I get my homemade granola bars to stick together? ›

Honey – Along with the nut butter, it helps all these ingredients stick together! I love its warm amber flavor in this recipe. Vanilla extract – It amps up the bars' warm flavor.

Add an egg white.

The whites act as a kind of glue that binds the ingredients together. To ensure that the egg whites coat all the ingredients, I beat them with a whisk until foamy and increased in volume, which makes it much easier to fold into the granola.

When dampened, chia seeds gel and swell to several times their original size, plus they get very sticky. Since they're already used as egg alternatives in baking, it's not surprising that chia seeds act as the ideal granola binder, but it is strange that they do it better than eggs.

Flaxseed is wonderful for this, because after 30 minutes it soaks up the water, and turns into a gluey mass that will bind all your granola ingredients together. Also, flaxseed is the most concentrated source of essential omega-3 fatty acids. It has tons of fiber too.

Ground Flaxseed. Adds protein and, when combined with the wet ingredients, becomes a glue-like binding agent that helps hold the bars together. Wheat Germ. A superfood boost that adds folate, fiber, vitamin E, and other key nutrients to these no bake granola bars (as well as this Healthy Granola).

First of all, granola is fairly expensive as it should be, but most of the time what is sold to you and what you actually eat makes you feel a little jipped. In my opinion most granolas etierh leave you feeling like you paid $14 for a few cups of diabetes or $14 for a cup of tasteless seeds.

Advantage homemade. Both granolas have whole oats as their main ingredient, but the Kellogg's is high in refined sugar and contains palm oil. The homemade version contains protein-rich pecans and uses only a small amount of honey, brown sugar, and vegetable oil.

California homemade food types

No restrictions, so long as food is sold the same day it's made.

The Bottom Line

Granola is healthy in small amounts, especially because oats, nuts, seeds and dried fruit in granola provide some fiber that's good for heart and gut health. However, granola can also be a rich source of calories, saturated fat and sugar, depending on the brand you buy.