Maple Pecan Granola

5 from 9 votes

This granola is chock full of whole ingredients like oats, pecans and pumpkin seeds. It is toasted, crunchy, slightly sweet, and wholly satisfying. When paired with yogurt and fresh berries, it leaves you feeling full all morning.

Prep Time15

Cook Time25

Total Time40

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Servings: Servings

Calories: 348kcal

Author: Lauren Skardal

Ingredients

8 cups rolled oats
3 cups pecans, chopped
1 ½ tablespoon cinnamon
1 cup dried cranberries, chopped
¾ cup maple syrup

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 °F.
Spread the oats out over a large baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven.
Using a wide flat spatula, bring the oats to the center of the baking sheet and flip them over. Spread the oats back out on the baking sheet. Sprinkle the cinnamon on top.
Top with the chopped pecans and pumpkin seeds (if using). Bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven.
Bring the oats, pecans, etc. again to the center of the baking sheets. Drizzle the maple syrup over the top. Using the spatula, flip over the oats, pecans, etc. to coat everything in the maple syrup. There should be enough maple syrup that some of the oats clump together, but not too much otherwise it will be too sweet. Spread the granola back out to cover the pans evenly. Bake for another 6-7 minutes.
Let cool for 2 minutes. Then loosen the granola from the baking sheets while still warm so that it doesn’t cool and stick to the sheet. Add the cranberries. Allow to cool fully, then store at room temperature in an airtight container.
It’s especially good while still warm, so top some of your favorite yogurt with the still-warm-from-the-oven granola (or in our house called ya-ya).

Notes

Recipe Amount: This recipe makes enough for 1-2 weeks for our family of 5. We all eat this for breakfast most weekday mornings, even our littlest who just turned one. Any longer than 2 weeks and it gets a bit stale.

Buying Pecans: I buy a large bag of pecans at Costco for around $10. If you don't buy them in bulk they can get quite expensive.

Measuring Ingredients: When I make this for my family I don’t measure the ingredients. There's plenty of room for adjusting it to your own preferences. I use enough oats to cover the baking sheet, ensuring that the layer is not too thin or it may burn. I use more pecans than cranberries. I sprinkle the cinnamon straight from the spice jar, dusting the whole thing noticeably. I drizzle on a good amount of maple syrup, but not so much that it ends up tasting sticky-sweet – just enough to bring the ingredients together.
Chopping Pecans: Roughly chop the pecans before adding them to the baking sheet to make it more manageable when eating a scoop of granola. An entire pecan in one scoop of granola is a bit much, rather you want a little bit of everything in each bite (oats, pecans, cranberries).

Chopping Cranberries: In addition to the pecans, I also chop the cranberries even smaller because they are pretty sweet and even having one whole one in a spoon full of granola and yogurt is a bit too sweet for me. But you could always skip chopping them if you want to simplify it (and sometimes I do if the kids are demanding my attention and I'm short on time and patience).

Sheet Pan Size: Use a half-sheet pan that is 18x13 inches and goes up about 1 inch on the sides. The size of the sheet pan is important because it dictates how much of the oats and other ingredients you can fit into the pan and still get a nice even toast on them in the oven. If you’re using a smaller sheet pan, you’ll need to scale all the ingredients back.
- Smaller Portion: For a smaller portion halve the recipe and use a smaller baking sheet.

Don't Overtoast the Oats: Sometimes when I make this I think that the oats do not look toasted enough after 10 minutes, so I try and push it a bit and bake it for 12 or 14 minutes. I always regret it. If I push it past the 10-minute mark, the oats start to burn around the edges of the pan, which can make the whole thing taste burned or over-toasted.

Nutrition