This chewy almond granola is perfect for breakfasts, road trips, stress eating, or just standing in the kitchen eating handfuls at midnight. It’s soft, satisfying, and just fancy enough to gift—if you can part with it.
Let me tell you about Emily. She's the kind of person who brings granola to a family gathering like it's no big deal—just a little something she "threw together" between campaigning for policy changes and teaching her Saint Bernard to shake hands with both paws. Meanwhile, you're over here barely keeping your plants or dignity alive.
She is part activist, part fashion icon, and part magical breakfast elf. And every single family vacation we've ever taken together, she brings this granola. It doesn't matter if she’s officially “on breakfast duty” or not. It doesn’t matter if we’re in a cabin, a condo, or camping on a questionable beach...the granola shows up like it's a part of the family.
And not just any granola.
This granola.
Golden. Chewy. Packed with almonds and love and just enough sugar to make you feel like joy really can exist in form of breakfast.
I’ve made a few tiny tweaks over the years (like more vanilla, because I have no chill), but it still feels like Emily every time I stir the bowl.
This is the granola that makes you look like you’ve got your life together—even if you’re still in your pajamas with your hair in a top ponytail from last night. It’s easy, it’s endlessly snackable, and it tastes like family, sunshine, and at least one highly competitive card game.
Chewy Almond Granola
This chewy almond granola is perfect for breakfasts, road trips, stress eating, or just standing in the kitchen eating handfuls at midnight. It’s soft, satisfying, and just fancy enough to gift—if you can part with it.
Ingredients
- 6 (480 g) cups old-fashioned oats (not the quick ones, we are not savages)
- ½ cup (112 g) canola or vegetable oil
- 1 cup (340 g) honey
- 1 cup (120 g) slivered almonds
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F because we believe in warm starts.
- Measure oats into a large mixing bowl.
- Place the remaining ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1-2 minutes or until the honey feels thin. Stir gently to combine.
- Pour liquid mixture over oats. Stir until all oats are coated. Even the ones on the bottom. Do me a favor and double-check those bottom oats.
- Spoon the whole glorious mess into a 9x13" baking pan.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and stir gently.
- Bake for another 10 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE. I mean it. Unless you like granola sadness.
- Pour it out onto wax paper to cool. Try not to burn your mouth eating it straight from the pan. (We all do it. No judgment.)
- Once cool, store in an airtight container. Or just eat it straight from the jar with your hands like a granola goblin. Again, no judgment.
Here’s to the granola that shows up even when it wasn’t assigned.
And here’s to the aunties who do the same.
