Cherry Vanilla Granola

There's not much better than homemade granola and this Cherry Vanilla Granola is both easy to make and absolutely delicious on yogurt, ice cream, or all on its own!

(This recipe for Cherry Vanilla Granola was originally published in June 2009, but was updated with new photos in 2020).

I'm often so tempted to buy granola at the grocery store and then flabbergasted by how much it costs. There are a million varieties of store-bought granola, but almost all of them have one thing in common: they're super pricey.

Don't get me wrong; I get it. A high-quality granola generally contains some pricey ingredients and a good granola is worth the money. But that doesn't mean I don't cringe a little as I put it in my cart.

Solution? Make your own granola at home! If you're making homemade granola for the first time, you will have to spend some money on ingredients and it won't necessarily be cheap the first time. But once you have the ingredients in your pantry, you can make A LOT of granola with them.

Plus, you can customize homemade granola however you want. Oftentimes, store-bought granola is packed with sugar and other unnecessarily ingredients, but if you make it at home, you can add whatever you want. And I promise it's a lot easier to make than you might think.

CHERRY VANILLA GRANOLA RECIPE

This cherry vanilla granola recipe originally came from No Recipes, but has been altered a bit. The flavor combination was just too delightful sounding to turn down and this granola is seriously addictive.

With plenty of old fashioned oats, wheat germ, dried cherries, almonds, coconut, and vanilla, this is both nutritious and amazingly delicious.

But even better? This granola is incredibly easy to make! Start by heating the oven to 275 degrees and lining a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Then, in a large bowl, mix together oats, wheat germ, almonds, and coconut flakes.

In a small saucepan set over medium-low heat, add canola oil, brown sugar, and maple syrup and stir until sugar is melted and mixture is heated. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.

Pour mixture over dry ingredients in bowl and mix until well combined.

Spread mixture evenly over parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle cherries in (try not to stir mixture too much as you don't want to break up clumps), and place back in oven for another 15 minutes, until mixture turns golden.

In my personal opinion, there's nothing better than a granola that clumps beautifully. I hate when it's just all crumbs; I like the big clumps!

I like to store my homemade granola in large mason jars, but you can also keep it in bags or another type of airtight container. Make sure you store it in a cool, dry place.

I will admit that the jar makes it a bit tough for me to keep reaching in and grabbing more handfuls... Which may actually be a good thing!

I love just snacking on this cherry vanilla granola throughout the day, but it also makes an awesome yogurt topping for breakfast (especially on vanilla yogurt) and is even delicious with just a little milk in a bowl!

This granola is sweet, but not too sweet. Obviously you can adjust the sweeteners as you see fit. I love all of the cherries in it and the subtle vanilla flavor. It's a definite winner in my book!

If you're not a fan of cherries, you can always use dried cranberries or any other type of dried fruit. But there's just something about the cherry and vanilla flavor combo that works so well together.

If you don't like almonds, you can swap them out with any type of nut. And if you don't like nuts at all, simply omit them.

Oh and homemade granola also makes an awesome gift. Pack it up in jars, tie it with a little bow, and gift it for any occasion. I think it's especially fun as a housewarming gift.

Have you ever made your own granola?

If you're looking for more delicious granola recipes, check out my Fruity Granola or my Peanut Butter Quinoa Chia Granola. And now I really want to try this Double Chocolate Cherry Granola from Sweet Cayenne!