Coconut Almond Cluster Granola

By Melissa Clark

Updated October 15, 2023

  • Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Media 1 of 2
Total Time
1 hour, plus cooling
Rating
5(730)
Comments
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As terrific as homemade granola tastes, its texture often lacks the thick, crunchy clusters found in store-bought versions. This recipe is an exception, filled with crisp, sweet clumps of oats, coconut flakes and seeds. The secret is grinding a portion of the oats and coconut into flour, which helps bind the ingredients together. Feel free to mix up the spices, nuts and seeds to taste, and to add dried fruit or chocolate chips after it cools if you like. Granola is adaptable, so make it the way you like it. You can also cut the brown sugar in half. The granola will be less sweet and less cluster-packed but still quite satisfying.

Featured in: Granola That’s Packed With Clusters

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Ingredients

Yield:8½ cups

  • ½ cup/120 milliliters coconut oil

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil (or use more coconut oil)

  • ⅔ cup/160 milliliters pure maple syrup

  • ⅔ cup/160 grams packed turbinado or light brown sugar

  • ⅔ cup/160 milliliters coconut or almond milk

  • 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt

  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

  • 5 cups/455 grams old-fashioned rolled oats

  • 1 cup/50 grams unsweetened coconut flakes

  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger or cardamom

  • 1 cup/85 grams sliced almonds

  • ½ cup/70 grams raw pumpkin seeds

  • ½ cup/65 grams sunflower seeds (optional, or use more pumpkin seeds or almonds)

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving

42 grams carbs; 351 calories; 5 grams monosaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 19 grams fat; 5 grams fiber; 203 milligrams sodium; 7 grams protein; 19 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

  2. Step 2

    In a saucepan over medium heat, combine coconut oil, olive oil, maple syrup, sugar, coconut milk and salt and bring to a simmer. When sugar has dissolved, stir in vanilla extract and let cool slightly.

  3. Step 3

    In a food processor, grind 1 ¼ cups/105 grams of the oats and ¼ cup/12 grams of the coconut into a flour. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in remaining oats and coconut, the spices, the nuts and the seeds. Pour maple syrup mixture over and stir to combine. Let sit 10 minutes.

  4. Step 4

    Using your hands, drop oat mixture onto prepared baking sheets in one layer, and pinch together into clumps with your fingers.

  5. Step 5

    Bake 40 to 50 minutes, flipping the mixture (taking care not to break up the clumps) every 15 minutes. The mixture is done when it’s golden brown all over and starting to crisp. It will continue to crisp up after as it cools. Transfer pans to wire racks and let cool. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
730 user ratings
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Comments

Tom

Grinding the oats and coconut to help form a paste is a great idea, however your recipe calls for 1 1/3 cup of sugar, about twice what I use to make my granola with the same amount of oats, nuts and seeds. Mine is already sweet enough and I am gradually reducing the sugar. Have you tried?

MC

Using the oat & coconut flours in my pantry is easier than getting out the food processor. 1 cup oat, 2T coconut is about right, weight-wise.

Gail

I just finished making a batch of the Granola. So yummy. I found that the later trays stuck together better then the first trays. So the longer the liquid soaks the oat mixture the better the clumps stay together. Also I found turning them at 15 mins really didn't work. So I waited 30 when when were more set.

Prashant

One of the best granola recipes in my view. I did do a couple of tweaks One, reduced sugar to just 60 grams. Two, I also used both the cardamom and ginger powder. Works great.

capillary

I have made this granola multiple times and have a few observations: 1. you can use half the amount of oil and sweeteners (maple syrup and brown sugar) and it is still luscious and delicious 2. i substitute avocado oil for coconut oil because coconut oil is not "heart healthy" (high in saturated fat) according to the american heart association. (you can add coconut extract if you like). 3. whole cashews are an excellent addition to the other nuts and seeds in the recipe

Juliana

I left out the sugar (but kept the maple syrup) and found it perfectly sweet to my family’s liking. I put everything on one tray instead of two and stirred it every 15 minutes. This resulted in no clumps, but I prefer it that way! I used canned coconut milk in the recipe and used the remainder of the can to make chia seed pudding (3T chia seeds, drizzle of maple syrup, plop of vanilla paste, sprinkle of salt. Mix it all in a jar and pop it in the fridge. We ate it with the granola on top and it was delicious)

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