Large Clump Granola
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This granola is a staple in our house: my children are never happier than when they walk into the kitchen to find a freshly baked batch cooling on a sheet pan. Seasoned with maple syrup and sea salt, and loaded with nuts and seeds, this granola is not only super tasty but healthy to boot. Read below to find my tips for making excellent large-clump granola.
As I mentioned a few weeks ago in the Bircher muesli post, this granola is a staple in our house, one treat my kids never tire of, a great healthy breakfast or after school snack.
Four Tips for Making Granola that Clumps
- Don’t stir. Don’t stir while it’s baking; don’t stir after you remove it from the oven.
- Bake at a lower temperature. I bake this granola at 275ºF for 45 minutes to an hour or until it’s lightly golden all around. The lower temperature allows the granola to brown slowly and evenly without having to stir.
- Once you remove the granola from the oven, let it cool completely on its sheetpan — this allows it to crisp up further and set. Once cool, you can break the granola into big ragged shards.
- Parchment paper sheets: Parchment paper prevents the granola from sticking to the pan and therefore allows it to break away into big chunks. Save the sheets and use them again and again — store the used sheets in a bag.
Large-Batch Granola
If you’re going through the process of making granola, I don’t think there’s any point in making anything other than a large batch. With that in mind, here’s one final tip:
- Invest in a single large sheetpan: I love these 15x21x1-inch sheetpans. The below recipe yields nearly 3 quarts of granola. You can spread the granola over two standard sheet pans, but a single large sheetpan makes the process easier.
PS: Homemade muesli + Bircher muesli, another staple:
How to Make Large-Clump Granola
First, gather your ingredients. Combine rolled oats, almonds, millet, unsweetened coconut, sea salt, maple syrup, and oil (melted coconut oil or a neutral oil such as grapeseed) in a large bowl. Toss to combine.
Spread onto a parchment-lined sheetpan.
Bake until evenly and lightly golden.
Let cool completely; then break into shards.
Store in an airtight vessel at room temperature.
PrintLarge Clump Granola
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 10 cups
Description
You can bake this granola on two sheetpans, rotating them halfway through the cooking. OR, bake the entire batch on a large 15x21x1-inch sheetpan.
Parchment paper sheets — can’t say enough about them. Save them and use them again and again — I fold mine up and stick them in a ziplock bag.
The recipe halves well, too. See notes below the recipe for those proportions.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (160 g) whole millet
- 4 cups (408 g) oats (not instant)
- 1 1/2 cups (100 g) unsweetened coconut flakes
- 2 1/2 cups (220 g) sliced almonds
- 2 teaspoons (7 g) sea salt, such as Maldon
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 1/3 cup grapeseed oil or other neutral oil or melted coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 275ºF.
- In a large bowl, toss together the millet, oats, coconut flakes, almonds and salt. Pour in the maple syrup and oil. Stir to coat.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the oat mixture out on it. Place it in the oven and bake for 45 minutes to hour, or until the edges look slightly dark. Note: As soon as you start smelling it, start checking it. This may take you 30 minutes; it may take you an hour and 15 minutes depending on your oven and baking pan. Really try to use the visual cues: lightly golden throughout with slightly darker edges.
- Do not stir: As in: Do not stir during the cooking process or when it comes out of the oven.
- Let the mixture cool completely on sheet pan. When ready to store, lift up edges of parchment to loosen the granola — this will create nice big shards. Transfer shards to storage container. Pour in remaining granola — it will inevitably break into smaller pieces.
Notes
For a half recipe, use these proportions:
- 1/2 cup (102 g) whole millet
- 2 cups (204 g) oats (not instant)
- 3/4 cup (48 g) unsweetened coconut flakes
- 1 1/4 cups (128 g) sliced almonds
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons grapeseed oil or coconut oil (melted)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
245 Comments on “Large Clump Granola”
I just made a batch of granola with this recipe. Oh my – I’m hoping it lasts enough to completely finish cooling. So perfect and evenly golden thanks to the lower temperature tip.
I’m new to your blog and look forward to checking out more. And, thank you for spreading the Fair Trade awareness – we can change so much by just being a more knowledgeable consumer.
Your granola looks amazing! I really like the combination of all ingredients, especially the addition of the millet. I can’t wait to try your recipe. Thanks for the giveaway.
awesome looking granola and giveaway
I’ve made the toasted muesli many times, my family loves it. I enjoy making extra to give to family and friends. I can’t wait to try the new suggestions. The give away looks awesome, thanks for giving someone a chance to try these products.
great! I was looking for an easy and healthy granola recipe with coconut oil. Just love it for everything!
love your recipe and what a wonderful giveaway prize pack. I love all the ingredients and always support Fair Trade products. Thank you for hosting the giveaway.
amy [at] utry [dot] it
I love fair trade products. They’re not always easy to find in my area but I but some online!
Definitely trying this recipe!
You are my hero! I love that you educate us all about Fair Trade…this recipe is looking like heaven to me right now….alas, I am super low carbing it right now for health reasons but the future will allow me to make it and then I can do something besides stare at the pictures! Happy Mother’s Day to the most awesome mom I know! Love, me! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
the granola looks wonderful! I’ve never made it with millet before. I clicked through to the original recipe and I noticed you soaked the millet in boiling water before using. Is that step optional? I didn’t see it in this recipe. Looking forward to making some this afternoon!
Yes! I skip that step now — doesn’t make a difference. Good luck with it!
As a broke single mom I could really benefit from winning this assortment of healthy baking items!
I love granola and this looks yummy!
The granola looks great. So does the turmeric tea. I’m intrigued by both!
I have tried store bought granola and it is either too chewy or too crunchy for me, plus I have a nut allergy so trying to find one without nuts has been hard. I usually make my own, but have never thought to use coconut oil – much healthier and being Fairtrade is a hugh bonus.
Delicious!
Why have I been buying granola at the store?!??! Definitely will be changing that in the days to come. Hitting the bulk bins bright and early 😀
This looks delicious! Thanks for the giveaway!
The granola looks delicious. I love coconut oil.
That looks amazing.
I love making my own granola, and always use coconut oil (I melt the coconut oil with a sweetener and flavour variations from chocolate chili, to chai, to pumpkin spice.)
I have an even easier baking option for you. Once you’ve mixed the oats and other ingredients together (I use lots of nuts and seeds) and placed it into a lined baking sheet, bake at 325F for 15 minutes, then turn the oven off, and leave it in the oven with the door closed overnight. In the morning, break it apart and add dried fruit, if desired. I do it at night so that I don’t need the oven. It’s truly yummy and absolutely foolproof.
Very interesting! I will absolutely try this. Thanks so much for the idea!
I made this for the first time today. The house smells so good! I substituted the maple syrup with raw coconut nectar for a lower glycemic index. Thank you so much!
So happy to hear this! I have never used coconut nectar. I’ll look out for it.
Giving this a try this weekend! The only store-bought granola I love is Mountain Rise Granola (http://mountainrise.com/). It’s not widely available in grocery stores where we live so when my husband or I see it, we buy large quantities. I just love the simple ingredients and chunky texture.
Thanks for the rec! I’ll have to check it out. This is one of my all-time favorite recipes. Hope you do give it a go this weekend!
Hi there! Reading this for the second (or third?) time, in preparation for making granola to give as holiday gifts, and now that it’s 2017 I can report that I have found a good store-bought granola! The Almond Butter Granola at Trader Joe’s is really good. That’s the only one I’ve ever found that was as good as homemade!
Great to hear! I’m excited to check it out. Thanks for reporting!
Made this today, the flavors were great but most of the millet fell off an is now sitting at the bottom of the container. Also, my granola didn’t clump as much as yours appears to in the photos. I followed the recipe exactly, any ideas? Do you think adding a little more maple syrup will improve the millet adhesion? Thanks!
Hi Laura,
Most of the millet does fall to the bottom of the container … I’ve actually been meaning to revisit this recipe and cut back on the millet. I love the flavor, but there just seems to be too much. To get big clumps, truly the best thing to do is to not touch it after removing it from the oven — don’t stir it or anything. Just let it sit there until it is completely cool, and when you are ready to transfer it to a storage container, break into pieces as you transfer it. I wouldn’t add more maple syrup because I think it will alter the flavor balance and potentially make it too sweet. There are other tricks out there for getting bigger clumps — egg whites, baking it with another sheet pan on top, and others. I haven’t tested too many of them, and this one, after a few days of storage, does end up breaking down into smallish clumps, but I don’t mind. Hope that helps!
I tried adding a single egg white to a double batch and all the millet stayed on this time. It doesn’t seem to have changed the texture or flavor neither, I love the millet so I didn’t want to cut back, thanks!
I love how your recipes are so inspiring with lots of helpful tips, and that they evolve along with you and your tastes. Thank you for talking about Fair Trade and all it means – for women, for people, and for the planet. We can all make a difference by what we buy and where our dollars go. It’s collective consciousness … it’s powerful.
I just made this a few days ago … it’s my new favorite granola! Absolutely delicious and SO easy. My grocery store didn’t have millet so I subbed in sunflower seeds along with a few tablespoons of whole flax seeds. OMG. I’m going to include this in my holiday goodie bags this year. Thank you Alexandra!
So happy to hear this, Linda! Love the idea of flax and sunflower seeds. Yum!
So looking forward to making this! Thanks for sharing.
A family fave!
So delicious! Took it camping last weekend and now making second batch!
So happy to hear this, Michelle!
Hi Ali. I’ve made this recipe many times. We love this granola. I don’t like millet at all, so I subbed equal amount of raw sunflower seeds intead. Also I found the recipe be to be quite salty. So I have reduced the salt from 1 tsp to 1/4 tsp. Love your blog and the recipes that you share.
So happy to hear this Lu! This definitely is on the salty side … I’m a fiend … I should make a note. Great tip re sunflower seeds, which sound delicious. I bet a mix of sunflower, pumpkin, and/or other seeds would be so tasty. Thank you for the kind words… means a lot!
Any suggestions for something besides the maple syrup? I live in Sweden and it is a bit hard to find and super expensive. Honey perhaps?
You could definitely try honey but I think I’d cut the amount back a bit. I worry about it being too sweet.