One-Bowl Granola
This one-bowl granola recipe is the perfect fix to any sweet desire. It is super easy to make and lasts for long enough for you to eat it all in one sitting! Get off your bum and get ready to make the easiest granola you've ever made! Granola could be one of the most iconic breakfast foods that are often forgotten. Granola is a great all-around breakfast; it can work as a cereal, a topping for yoghurt, or sometimes even a replacement for streusel on a muffin. Yoghurt and granola are one of my favourite breakfasts, I used to make my own yoghurt - something I need to get back into - and fruit compote to mix in with it. No other breakfast, except maybe oatmeal, could be as divine!
One-Bowl Granola Ingredients
It is important to use rolled or large oats in this case. The minute- or instant-oats cook far too fast and are rolled so thin that they will burn easily in the oven, or when cooked with too much sweetener and oil, can cook them like your porridge, making them soggy and unable to crips up like granola should be.
Coconut adds quite a bit of unexpected flavour to this one-bowl granola. You'll see the type of spices that are used in this recipe are not normally paired with coconut. I quite enjoy the unexpected addition of coconut and it pairs great with maple syrup too!
The spices that I included in this recipe are my go-to spices. Since I was little, all the desserts my grandmothers would make were always spiced with cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves. My personal favourite is cardamom, absolutely love that stuff! These spices add a real homey feeling to the granola, like my grandmother's kitchen.
Maple syrup is my go-to sweetener for non-baked goods. As a Canadian, I feel the duty to include maple syrup in as many recipes as possible. Honey is absolutely unacceptable in my kitchen, but if you want to use honey, you can go right ahead and replace the maple syrup with the best raw honey you can find (of course, pasteurised honey is fine too). #Canadian.
Oil is an important component in any granola. Normally, the ratio of oil to sweetener is one part oil to two parts sweetener. I find that combination to be too oily, leaving my granola feeling somewhat greasy and heavy. I cut down on the oil to give this granola a nice light feeling.
One-Bowl Granola Flavours
Homemade granola is so easy to make, and the flavour difference is so huge, that you’ll never want to be going back to store-bought granola ever again! The great thing about making granola yourself is the ability to change it the way you like. I made blood orange tart, and I served it alongside some chocolate orange granola with almonds, the sky really is the limit. As long as you enjoy the flavour combinations, add it in! Here are some combinations that I enjoy:
1/4 cup sliced almonds, replace maple syrup with honey
Zest of one orange and add 1/4 cup dark chocolate chunks after the granola has cooled
Zest of one orange and add 1/4 chopped raw almonds
1/2 cup chopped mixed nuts
Anything that you like!
One-Bowl Granola Method
Making the granola is super simple. If you don’t use measuring cups and instead use a kitchen scale, the recipe only uses three dishes! Gather your three dishes - a bowl, a rubber spatula, and a lined baking pan. Now the rest of the recipe is super simple - which is why I love it! Tare the scale with the bowl on top, start pouring in the dry ingredients and continue taring the scale after each addition. This is what keeps the recipe so ‘low-dishes.’ If you are not using a kitchen scale, go right ahead with those cups measures!
Mix your dry ingredients to make sure they are well combined, then add in your vanilla and maple syrup and mix it. Transfer this mix to your baking pan.
This is where you can take it in two different ways depending on your preference. If you like your granola in clusters, pack it together to form a tight layer no more than 1.5 cm tall. If you like your granola to be loose, then lightly spread it across the pan, making sure not to pack it together. By packing the granola together, you form these large granola clusters that as the granola bakes, the maple syrup will bind it together.
Place this in a preheated oven for ten minutes. After the first ten minutes, mix the granola (if you like yours loose) and turn the pan. Put this back in the oven for another 10 minutes. After the second 10 minutes is up, take it out of the oven and allow it to cool. Once the granola has cooled, you have a perfect topping for your yoghurt, an easy homemade cereal, and so much more that it could be!
One-Bowl Granola
Enjoy this perfect and easy warm granola recipe on top of your yoghurt, sprinkled on top of a muffin, or as cereal!
200 g rolled oats
30 g flaked coconut OR 25 g (1/4 cup) shredded coconut
2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
1/8 tsp clove powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
75 g maple syrup
25 g vegetable oil
Preheat the oven to 325°F for convection ovens or 350°F for conventional ovens.
Combine the oats, coconut, spices and salt in a bowl and mix until combined.
Add the maple and vanilla and mix thoroughly before transferring to your parchment-lined baking pan.
Once on your parchment-lined baking pan, pack the granola together into a tight layer no more than 1.5cm tall. Alternatively, spread the granola through the pan in an even layer.
Place on the middle rack of the preheated oven and bake for ten minutes.
After ten minutes, if you spread the granola in a thin layer, mix it around before rotating the pan and putting it back in the oven. If you tightly packed the granola, rotate the pan.
Take the pan out after 10 minutes and let it cool before indulging!