I just have to tell you that I love my friend, Jill, from The Prairie Homestead. She’s such a sweetheart…and now she’s given me a way that makes it harder to burn granola. She’s a saint I tell ya…a saint.
I really admire those moms (and dads!) who whip up a big breakfast every single day of the week…
As much as I love cooking, breakfast at my house is pretty ho-hum. Since my morning routine involves rushing out the door to do chores and milk the cow before my 2 year- old wakes up, my morning “cuisine” is usually quite simple… (And boring.)
Because I haven’t purchased any sort of boxed cereal for several years now, I usually rotate between oatmeal, scrambled eggs, or yogurt… It gets old after a while.
So, whenever I find a make-ahead recipe that allows me to cook once and still have a decent breakfast for a couple days of my week, I’m thrilled!
I love granola, but rarely make it since I’m excellent at burning it to a crisp.
No matter how much I promise myself that I won’t leave the oven unattended, I do…
Food dehydrators also work for making granola, but my machine tends to heat up my house like crazy. With our recent triple-digit temps, that’s the last thing I need.
So, considering how much I love my slow cooker, I stumbled across several crockpot granola recipes and figured they were definitely worth giving a try.
I really enjoyed this recipe, and I think you will too. Believe it or not, the crockpot makes short work of the cooking process, and it’s harder to burn it this way. (Burning it IS still possible, just more difficult…)
Granola in your Slow Cooker
- 5 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not the quick oat kind)
- 1/2 cup ground flaxseed (optional- see note below)
- 3/4 cup coconut oil or butter
- 3/4 cup honey
- 2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened, shredded coconut
- 1 cup chopped nuts of your choice
- 1 to 2 cups dried fruit, chocolate chips, or other mix-in of your choice
- In a small saucepan, melt the coconut oil or butter.
- Once it has turned into a liquid, mix in the honey.
- Mix the oats, flaxseed, coconut, and nuts together in your slow cooker.
- Add the honey mixture as well as the vanilla and cinnamon. Stir thoroughly.
- Allow the granola to cook on low for 2-4 hours. Give it a quick stir every half hour or so to keep it from burning around the edges. Leave the lid slightly cracked to allow moisture to escape (this prevents soggy granola).
- Cooking times will greatly vary depending on your slow cooker. Mine cooks very hot, so 2 hours was almost too long. As the granola gets closer to being finished, it will have a tendency to burn faster, so keep an eye on it.
- Allow to cool, then mix in the dried fruit and/or chocolate chips.
- Store in the refrigerator in an air-tight container for several weeks.
Top with cold milk, yogurt, or fresh fruit for a quick, easy, and healthy breakfast!
Kitchen Notes:
- I usually recommend using raw honey in most of my recipes. However, since you’ll be heating it, it’s not as important in this application.
- I like using flax seed since it’s full of healthy Omega-3 fats and it keeps me feeling full longer. However, flaxseed can go rancid very quickly, so I recommend only purchasing whole flax seed and then grinding it as you need it. I simply use a cheap coffee grinder for this task. But if you don’t have it on hand, just leave it out.
- This recipe does not require exact measurements. It’s more of a “eyeball-it” sort of deal.
- Feel free to substitute to your heart’s content. That’s the best thing about homemade granola- there is really no right or wrong way to make it!
So there you have it- a healthy, yet quick alternative to sugary, store-bought cereals… And, a welcome change from scrambled eggs at my house! 😉
Jill writes from the homestead she shares with her husband, daughter, and ever-changing assortment of animals. When she’s not in the kitchen preparing traditional foods, you’ll find her outside riding horses, growing vegetables, milking her cow, and building fence like the one on this website. She blogs at The Prairie Homestead, where she enjoys encouraging readers to return to their roots, no matter where they may live.
I want to thank you for this recipe — it’s become a “go-to” in our house. I throw all kinds of things in (sunflower seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, millet, raw quinoa, all kinds of nuts, hemp hearts…) and often give jars to friends who have had new babies or might need an easy homemade snack. Now everyone wants a jar of the “Kitchen Sink Granola.” I frequently make a nut-free version for the kids to take to school as well. My kids (3 and 6) can almost make this themselves too and they like helping me make it.
It’s just such a versatile recipe, isn’t it? I love that it’s easy to customize for different tastes, allergies, budgets, etc. I’m so glad y’all love it too 🙂 Thanks for commenting, Cat!
Julie, HH Team
This looks delicious… Can’t wait to try
I have a large stainless steel mixing bowl a friend gave to me; my granola recipe is similar and I used the “overnight in the silver mixing bowl with oven on low ” method. Turn it on, go to bed. Wake with house smelling wonderful. I use the large box of old fashioned oatmeal, sweetner (THM-approved) mixed with bit of black strap molasses, coconut oil, dash of salt, good dashes of cinnamon. When finished I drop some vanilla on and cool, storing in sealed container. Yum. I serve hubby over vanilla yogurt/fruit. I eat with almond mix occasionally.
Well, who knew?! That’s super cool! 🙂
What size crockpot did you use? I used a 4-qt and it was still going at 4 hours. I ended up putting it on a pan in the still hot oven from baking bread and leaving it to cool. It’s great now, but was really going to take way longer than 4 hours for me. I have a 5-qt and two 6-qts I could use instead.
Made this yesterday while doing a lot of batch cooking and bread baking. Easy and delicious. Made essentially as you wrote used coconut oil, half honey and maple syrup, added golden raisins, craisins, dried cherries and blueberries. It’s our favorite granola so far. Burning and turning messiness had been my nemesis in making granola and your recipe solved those problems. Thanks so much for sharing this!
Oooooh. Dried cherries are super yum!
I was wondering if you can taste the coconut, i’m not really a coconut person.
Yes – you could just leave the coconut out or substitute the bulk by using more of the other add-ins.
Do you have a porch or an outside outlet to run the dehydrator? As long as it is not raining or snowing then using it outside would be fine and it won’t heat up the house!
Mine is in our basement. Hooray!
Stacy: Your 10 things I don’t do link doesn’t work!?
Thanks! I’ll fix it. 🙂
I tried this and it turned out beautifully. Thank you.
Hurray! I wish I had a big ole bowl right now.
I loved the flavor of it while I was prepping it. Then I got impatient, put the crock pot on high, and burned it. Yes, I burned probably the best tasting granola ever!!! Now I have to wait a few weeks until I can make it again. The good thing is that I added chocolate chips and the kids love it, well done and all!! Thanks Stacy. I am going to try to make the crock pot yogurt today. Prayerfully it will go well.
I’m sure it will go great! 🙂 Put the yogurt and granola together and you’ve got a true treat!
Could you use whole flax seed? I haven’t done a whole lot with flax seed but I do have some on hand right now…I don’t have a Coffee grinder…any other suggestions?
Hmmm… I’m actually not sure. I personally have never used whole flax seed in anything, so I’m not certain how it would turn out. I can’t help but think that it might be a little tough to chew? Do you have a mortar & pestle? That might work for grinding.
I know I’m late on this conversation, but for future reference, I grind my flax seeds in a blender (Magic Bullet with the blender blade) and it works fine!
I’ve been making homemade granola for quite sometime now. I have 5 boys still at home, and it certainly doesn’t last weeks at our house. More like DAYS!! I have to make granola about every 3 days because they scarf it up so quickly! I substitute maple syrup for the honey because honey is so expensive. I recently canned some plum & peach syrup, & I’m going to try using that next time I make granola. My boys are already salivating & can’t wait to sample the results!!
Plum syrup? Yes please!
What is the appropriate way to store and how long does coconut oil last once opened?? Thanks!
I just store mine at room temperature. If I buy in quantity, I keep the rest in a cool place (my basement). I’ve never had any go bad…it has a LONG shelf life. It should last at least a year.
I just have to let you and others know that I prepared to make this recipe and realized that I dont own a coffee grinder but since I did have whole flax seed I tried my magic bullet and it ground the flax seed beautifully!
It’s magic! 🙂 Sorry, could not resist.
Just had to say- this was AMAZING stuff… I’ve never made my own granola before, but this was super easy to make and turned out perfectly. Much better than the boxed stuff. I made as directed except I ommitted the coconut (couldn’t find unsweetened) and I substituted some of the honey for maple syrup. Thanks!
(A side note- I’ve always kept my flax seed in the pantry without any problems. After reading this recipe I looked on the bag and it does say that it will keep longer in the refrigerator- but I’ve had the same bag for a few months and it’s fine).
I’m going to have to make a big batch of this – and freeze it to have on hand when The Bean arrives. 🙂
I gotta say, the recipe gets better every time I make it. I’ve made 4 batches (yes, we eat that much) since you published. Each time I tweak just a bit, pinch more cinnamon, add nutmeg, etc, etc.
It is so versatile!
thank you!!
Hey – it’s good for you…crock away, baby!
Instead of flaxseed could chai seed be used? To my knowledge the chai seed do not go ranscid so I’m wondering if that would be an option. Otherwise I can’t wait to try this, I Love Granola, but I don’t like buying it.
I don’t like buying it either….and I would think chai seed would work just fine. 🙂
Hi, I’ve made this twice now and it’s delicious. Thanks for sharing! On a side note, do you think it’s necessary to keep it in the refrigerator? My batch last night made three full quarts and they take up quite a bit of space in there.
Thanks!
Susan
I think it’s necessary to keep the flax from going rancid. But if you leave the flax out I would think it would be fine. 🙂
The flax seed won’t go rancid before you eat it up, unless you don’t eat it very often and want it in storage – So then I would use an oxygen absorber in each jar and then put a lid and ring and tighten.
I have flax seed in my kitchen cupboard (it’s whole seeds, not milled) in a mason jar with a lid on it and it’s still not rancid 2 years later.
hth
LOL, I am the weird exception who finds it easier to burn granola in the crock pot than in the oven. I tried a few times and gave up; usually I cook it at 200 in the oven for a couple hours and it turns out perfectly. I think my crock pot must cook really high.
My mom has one of those….it’s funny how every single crock pot is different.
Thanks!! I am so glad in this HOT weather to have this option! Jill’s great. I’m sharing on my facebook page.
Thanks for sharing!
Living with no stove, my slow cooker is my main way of cooking, but I had never thought of making granola in it. Thanks for the recipe.
Crock pots are such a great option for those with limited cooking capabilities! 🙂
I’m looking forward to giving this a try. I just have one question…I thought it was import to soak oats before using them? Do you start with dry oats?
I will let Jill answer for how she does it, but our family doesn’t soak grains. 🙂
See this post – http://www.stacymakescents.com/why-i-dont-soak-grains
I start with dry oats. It really depends on who you talk to… I used to soak everything quite religiously, but it didn’t really make a difference for my family. But, I’m sure you could definitely use soaked oats in this recipe if you prefer.
Hi and Thank You for this wonderful recipe…
I like using molassas, also, in my granola. Great Health benefits and moderate on the glycemic scale for us Diabetics…
Can’t wait to try this.
PS I keep my ground flax seed in the frig (I just checked the date as I label everything…it’s been there since 2008 and still not rancid. I, obviously, don’t use it a lot !!! )
Molasses lends such a unique taste!
This is so awesome! I used this method last night, but just used my own granola recipe. I cooked it for 2 hours on low, stirring every 30 minutes. It wasn’t quite done at that point, but it was bedtime so I switched it to the warm setting and went to bed. 8 hours later it was perfectly crisp and toasty. AND we had hot granola for breakfast, which is super good!
Bonus: It’s way easier to stir in the crock pot than it is on pans:)
Thanks for such a fantastic idea, Jill!
I’m not sure about Jill….but stirring is my biggest problem with granola – not burning! I always stir it out and get it everywhere. LOL
It’s in the crock put now and I must say…..it smells heavenly and tastes great too. (I couldn’t resist a sampling) 🙂
Not only is this awesome but it is timely. Today’s list of kitchen activities includes making granola and i’m going to give this a try.
I’ll let you know how it works!
Woohoo! I love posts that work out like that. 🙂
Just wanted to tell you how much of an encouragment you have been to me and my dear mom. We would love to see more about your cow!!!
Irene and Stefani Longo
Oh that looks fantastic!! Im really boring with breakfasts too. And lunch lol
Awesome, thank you! I’m definitely an eyeball it sort of cook. I’ll be making some in the next few days with this method. (and keeping my fingers crossed that I don’t burn it this way, too). Have you tried making it with maple syrup instead of honey?
I’ve never tried Jill’s method, but I have successfully switched out honey for maple syrup in tons of other granola recipes. 🙂
I haven’t tried it with maple syrup, but I’m betting that it’d work just great!
Wow, I can’t wait to try this! Is the pot hard to clean afterward? (Yes, I’m that lazy, lol!)
Do you think it would work for grain-free granola as well? (Nut pieces instead of oats.)
I’m of a like persuasion regarding honey. Why use expensive raw if it’s just going to be cooked? I like to get cheaper honey for cooking and save the raw for truly raw recipes and for the kids to get unpleasant things down. 🙂
Also, I never thought of adding flax seed and keeping the granola in the fridge. Great tips. Thanks!!!
I can get just about anything off my pot by letting it soak in baking soda water. 🙂
The pot isn’t hard to clean at all- thankfully! 🙂
And, I think that it should work just fine for grain-free granola, too.
I love making homemade granola, and I’m so pumped to try it in the crock pot! Thanks for sharing your recipe, Jill! Pinning this one for sure!
Jill rocks my face off.
Hi, can you give me some things to look for to know when this is nearing “done”? I am new to cooking granola. I am assuming I am trying to dry it out/incorporate the butter/oil into the oats? Thanks!
It should start to look a golden brown and be dry. You don’t want it TOO brown because it will continue to crisp as it cools. 🙂