Vanilla Almond Granola

Crunchy homemade granola is easy to make, delicious, and far cheaper than any granola you’ll find at the store! Made with almonds, honey, and vanilla extract, this vanilla almond granola is bound to be a breakfast favorite, just like my honey pecan granola and maple pecan granola. Use on top of yogurt, mix with milk for a granola cereal, add to homemade vanilla ice cream, or eat by handful whenever the craving strikes!

This homemade vanilla granola recipe is also easy to customize with your favorite mix-ins, like dried fruit, chocolate chips, or another kind of nut. Making granola at home has saved my family a lot of money over the last year, and it’s easy to make a large batch and save some for later in the freezer. And as a bonus, when my husband tried this recipe for the first time, he said, “This is way better than Trader Joe’s vanilla almond granola!”

Ingredients for Vanilla Almond Granola

Homemade granola is incredibly easy to make and customize. This is my favorite base recipe, and you are more than welcome to add in dried fruit or chocolate chips to make this recipe your own.

• Honey. This is a great binding agent to hold the granola clusters together. If you would like to make this granola vegan, substitute with maple syrup or agave nectar.
• Brown sugar. Along with honey, brown sugar gives the vanilla almond granola a light sweetness.
• Salted butter. Butter helps the granola crisp up while baking and lends a subtle buttery flavor.
• Almonds. I prefer natural almonds so I can control the saltiness and chop them up into bite-sized pieces. You can also use roasted sliced almonds if that’s more convenient for you.
• Rolled oats. Old-fashioned or rolled oats have the perfect texture for homemade granola.
• Vanilla and almond extracts. Both increase the flavors of vanilla almond granola.
• Salt. Just a pinch enhances all the flavors.

Quick Tips to Make Homemade Vanilla Almond Granola

I never knew how easy it was to make granola at home until last year. Since then, I think I’ve only purchased one box of a seasonal granola because it’s so easily and inexpensive to make at home! All you do is melt butter, honey, and sugar together; stir in your oats and almonds; and bake for half an hour on low heat. It can’t get any easier than this!

Chopping the Almonds

I prefer to chop my own almonds rather than using pre-sliced almonds for two reasons: Whole almonds are generally cheaper than sliced almonds, and I like the variety of home-cut pieces. You are more than welcome to do whatever is most convenient for you.

If using whole almonds, roughly chop them with a chef’s knife on a large cutting board.

Melting the Butter, Honey, and Brown Sugar

This buttery syrup made from butter, honey, and brown sugar is what coats the oat pieces and helps them crisp while baking. Combine all three in a pot, then stir over medium heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has fully dissolved in the butter, about five minutes.

This may take a few extra minutes if the butter is still in stick form and wasn’t cut to smaller pieces (totally fine; I do that, too, when I’m not photographing recipes).

We’ll stir the oats directly into this pot, so use a larger one than you think you’d need!

Stirring in the Almonds and Oats

Add the almonds and oats to the buttery syrup, then stir together with a strong spatula. Scrape the sides and bottom of the pot thoroughly to ensure the oats are all evenly coated.

As you can see from the images below, a medium pot is just large enough to stir everything together, but a large pot would have been better to prevent stray oats on my stovetop.

Baking Vanilla Almond Granola

Granola bakes best when spread out thinly on parchment paper covering a baking sheet. While baking, granola can start to stick to the pan, so using parchment paper is highly recommended.

Tip the granola out of the pot and onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, and spread the granola thinly on the pan. This recipe works best on a half-sheet pan. If you have a smaller oven that can’t fit half-sheet pans, I would recommend splitting the granola onto two parchment-lined pans. Otherwise, it may not dry out properly in the oven.

Bake the vanilla almond granola for 20 to 30 minutes at 300°F/150°C until the edges of the granola are golden brown. If your slab of granola is a little thick, or you want small granola clusters, I recommend stirring the granola once around the 15-minute mark.

Immediately out of the oven, the granola will not be crispy. As the granola cools, though, it will start to harden and crisp up (in about 30 minutes).

Breaking up the Vanilla Almond Granola

After the vanilla almond granola has fully cooled, it’s time to break up the pieces of granola and store.

I break up my granola with my freshly washed hands. You can also use a spoon or spatula to break up the granola, but that can get messy and launch stray oats across the kitchen.

Once cooled, store homemade granola in an airtight container for up to a month at room temperature, or in the freezer for up to six months.

FAQs about Vanilla Almond Granola

Other Recipes You May Enjoy

This was the first of many granola recipes on my blog. I now have maple pecan granola, dark chocolate granola, and honey pecan granola recipes, too!

For all my vanilla lovers out there, my French vanilla ice cream is the creamiest homemade ice cream you’ll ever have, and it’s packed with vanilla. Top it with some of this vanilla almond granola for a crunch!

Not quite granola, but my cherry crumble bars have a buttery crumble paired with a jammy cherry filling (and I have a gluten-free cherry almond crumble, too!).

Dish Cleanup: Piece of Cake

I rate my recipe cleanups on a scale of 1 to 5. 1 is only a handful of dishes, and 5 is everything including the kitchen sink.

My vanilla almond granola recipe has a cleanup rating of a 1. There already aren’t many dishes at all for this homemade granola recipe, but you can speed up the cleaning process if you use sliced almonds or almond pieces. I also make my parchment paper lining a little bigger than my pan to ensure nothing gets on it. Then, you’ll only have a couple bowls and a pot to clean.

Trader Joe’s Vanilla Almond Granola Copycat Recipe

Thanks for trying out my homemade vanilla almond granola recipe!
If you liked it, please don’t forget to leave a review to let others know how it turned out.

4.83 from 35 votes

Vanilla Almond Granola

Author: Alyssa Adams of The Floral Apron

Crunchy homemade granola is easy to make, delicious, and far cheaper than any granola you'll find at the store! Made with almonds, honey, and vanilla extract, this vanilla almond granola is bound to be a breakfast favorite.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time:10 minutes mins

Cook Time:20 minutes mins

Cool Time:30 minutes mins

Total Time:1 hour hr

Course: Granola

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 ⅓-cup servings

Ingredients

 

1x2x.5x

• ▢ ¼ cup (90 g) honey
• ▢ ⅓ cup (72 g) brown sugar firmly packed
• ▢ 8 Tablespoons (113 g) salted butter
• ▢ ¾ cup (125 g) whole natural almonds or chopped
• ▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 teaspoon almond extract
• ▢ 1 pinch of salt
• ▢ 3 cups (300 g) rolled oats

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F/150°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Add honey, brown sugar, and butter to a medium pot. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a spatula, until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
   ¼ cup (90 g) honey, ⅓ cup (72 g) brown sugar, 8 Tablespoons (113 g) salted butter
3. While the mixture over the stove is melting, chop the whole almonds into bite-sized pieces.
   ¾ cup (125 g) whole natural almonds
4. Stir the almond extract, vanilla extract, and salt into the honey mixture.
   2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon almond extract, 1 pinch of salt
5. Add the chopped almonds and rolled oats to the honey mixture. Stir together until well combined and no dry patches of oats remain.
   3 cups (300 g) rolled oats
6. Pour the granola out onto the parchment-lined baking sheet, and spread evenly across the pan with a spatula. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the granola is lightly golden brown on the edges. For extra crispy granola, gently stir the granola once halfway through baking.
7. Let the granola cool for about 30 minutes, then break into pieces with your hands. If desired, add more mix-ins, like dried fruit. Once fully cooled, store in an airtight container.

Video

Notes

You may also use pre-chopped or pre-sliced almonds. Substitute about 1 cup or 125 grams of sliced almonds or almond pieces.

Homemade granola lasts for about a month when stored in an airtight container after it has cooled completely. This is also the best time to add in other mix-ins, like dried fruit! If placed in an airtight container while just the slightest bit warm, the granola can get soggy and won’t last as long.

If you notice your granola sticks together the next day, it may not have dried out enough during baking. You can dry the granola out a little more to improve its shelf life by baking it on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 5-10 minutes at 300°F/150°C.

Recommended Supplies

• Chicago Metallic Non-Stick Baking Sheet
• DI ORO Silicone Spatula Set
• OXO Pop Container

Nutrition

Serving: 1/3 cup | Calories: 240kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 118mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 11g

I’d love to see how your recipe turns out: Take a photo and tag me on Instagram @floralapronblog to share with me, or use the hashtag #floralapronbakes.