Look, I don’t want to be dramatic... but this granola walked into my kitchen, made my house smell like a cozy fall candle, and reminded me that I can, in fact, do hard things. Like make breakfast. Or survive October.
Okay, slightly dramatic.
But hear me out.
It’s October. The month where every calendar square is filled with field trips, school carnivals, themed snack sign-ups, and “optional” costume parades. I haven’t seen the bottom of my laundry basket since Labor Day, and I’m still pretending we have time to visit a pumpkin patch before Halloween. (Spoiler alert: We don’t.)
And then these granola clusters came into my life.
Specifically, these chewy-crunchy, cinnamon-and-coconut-scented emotional support snacks that I made on a whim and have now eaten three batches of. (Hypothetically.) (Not actually hypothetically.)
The recipe came together because I needed to pretend like my kids were occasionally eating healthy food. And also because I had oats, honey, and a slightly judgmental jar of pumpkin seeds that had been in the pantry since spring.
I wasn’t trying to be impressive. I was just trying to make it through a Thursday.
But ohhhhh, friends.
This granola? This granola showed up.
It smelled like fall in a way that makes you believe in slow mornings and matching socks. It baked into golden chunks of snackable glory. And when I ate it in the car while hiding from my own to-do list, it crunched like a tiny round of applause just for me.
Easy Homemade Granola Clusters
This easy homemade crunchy granola cluster recipe will make your house smell like cinnamon and joy. It’s sweet, toasty, and exactly the kind of snack you deserve—no judgment, no dishes, and no regrets.
Ingredients
- 6 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (480 g)
- ½ cup coconut oil (112 g)
- ½ cup honey (170 g)
- ½ cup brown sugar (110 g)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon coconut flavoring (aka liquid vacation)
- 1 cup almonds
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 300°F and give your baking sheet a little pep talk. (But the good kind. Not the kind that makes it feel bad about itself in the end.)
- Dump oats and any mix-ins you're feeling today into a giant mixing bowl. The biggest one you’ve got. Yes, even bigger than that.
- In a microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup, melt the coconut oil and honey together until smooth and glossy like your best intentions.
- Add in the brown sugar, spices, and coconut flavoring. Stir like you mean it.
- Pour this golden syrup of glory over the oats and mix until every little flake is feeling the love.
- Dump the whole thing onto a baking sheet and press it into two tight columns. Not a full spread—we’re going for clusters, not scatter.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Pull it out and use a wooden spoon to chop the columns into 2-3" chunks like you’re a crunchy snack architect.
- Bake another 15 minutes.
- Let it cool completely before touching it again. I know. But this is how you get crunchy clusters and not granola dust.
If you’re looking for a little October win, here it is.
A recipe that requires no fancy tools, no emotional bandwidth, and no seasonal produce you forgot to buy. Just oats, honey, and cinnamon.
It's kind of snack that lets you pretend your life is together—even if you’re eating it in socks that don’t match.
Happy fall, my crunchy friends.
