The big crunchy clusters are easily the best bites of granola, so why not bake a batch of only clusters?! This recipe for homemade granola clusters produces a wholesome, delicious anytime snack that’s easy to make and easier to eat. Bake the maple almond granola mixture in a 9×13-inch baking pan, before breaking up into pieces and returning to the oven. (That’s the cluster trick!) You need just 8 ingredients for this naturally vegan, dairy-free, egg-free recipe.
I originally published this recipe in 2012 and have since added new photos and a few more success tips. I have also made a few small changes to the recipe, which are reflected in the printable recipe below.
Anyone who enjoys snacking on granola can probably relate… have you ever fished around in the container or package to pick out the giant clusters? Just me?
Because aren’t those big crunchy clusters (that practically take up an entire spoon) the best?! You can now find granola clusters in some stores, but it’s easy to make them at home with a handful of simple, wholesome ingredients. I’m talking about a batch of JUST clusters. Bring on the crunch.
This was actually one of the first recipes I shared on this website! And it’s still a consistent favorite in my house. Over the years, I’ve found you really don’t need the whole wheat flour. Instead, use just almond flour to help bind the oats and create those large clusters. By removing the whole wheat flour and if using certified gluten-free oats, this recipe is gluten free. Sliced almonds add flavor and texture, and you’ll love the flavors from maple syrup, brown sugar, and vanilla. (Honestly, like a crunchy granola version of maple brown sugar cookies.)
One reader, Emily, commented: “Help, I can’t stop eating these clusters! Everyone loves them! This super simple recipe is delicious. I love the adaptability and flexibility for add-ins. I added coconut flakes yesterday. Now I’m back to making another batch today! ★★★★★“
Summary of Homemade Granola Clusters:
- Made with minimal ingredients, no need for anything else
- Easy recipe, great for beginner or young bakers
- Wholesome treat made with oats, almonds, and maple syrup
- A little salty and sweet, wonderful maple flavor
- Energy-packed snack you’ll feel good about eating
- Vegan, egg-free, and gluten free if using certified GF oats
- Make the clusters as large or small as you like—you’re in control here!
- So much satisfying texture and crunch in every bite
8 Ingredients & Why Each Is Crucial
- Oats: Whole rolled (old-fashioned) oats are the nutritious heart of these granola clusters. I don’t recommend quick or instant oats here—you need whole. I recommend the same for all my granola recipes, including peanut butter granola. Whole rolled oats are also imperative in many of my oatmeal-based cookies, like oatmeal raisin cookies and flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookies.
- Almond Flour: Almond flour is a pretty common ingredient these days, and most grocery stores carry it. You need this ingredient in order for the granola to clump. If you have any left over, challenge yourself with a batch of French macarons. And if you can’t find almond flour in the store, you can make it at home. See recipe Notes.
- Salt: A little salt brings out all the other flavors, making these the tastiest granola clusters.
- Sliced/Slivered Almonds: Nuts add texture, and you can certainly leave them out if desired. If you only have whole almonds, give them a rough chop. I recommend using unsalted.
- Coconut Oil: Do not leave this out! The fat keeps granola from turning into a mushy mess and adds crunch and richness to every cluster. You can substitute butter if needed, but not a liquid oil. You need a fat that is solid at room temperature.
- Brown Sugar: The brown sugar adds sweetness, but is also needed to thicken the sticky “sauce” that gets poured over the dry ingredients. You can substitute coconut sugar, if desired.
- Maple Syrup: Pure maple syrup gives these clusters the most delicious flavor, and it’s an unrefined sweetener. It also helps the granola stick together, cluster-style.
- Vanilla Extract: Another flavor enhancer!
FAQ: Can I Make This Without Brown Sugar?
We’re sweetening these granola clusters with maple syrup and brown sugar, and I don’t recommend using only maple syrup. You really need a dry sugar to help thicken the sauce poured over the dry ingredients. If you’d prefer to use an unrefined sugar, try using coconut sugar instead of brown sugar.
Bake the Mixture in a Baking Dish (That’s the Trick!)
Melt the coconut oil, brown sugar, and maple syrup together on the stove before pouring over and mixing into your dry ingredients. Press the mixture into a lined 9×13-inch baking dish, as if you were making granola bars. That’s the real trick here:
Rotate the pan every 10 minutes. When the granola “slab” has baked for about 40 minutes, remove the baking pan and let cool for 5–10 minutes, but keep the oven on. Carefully—it’s hot!—lift out the slightly cooled slab of granola (just pick up the whole thing by the edges of the parchment paper) and cut into squares, then break apart into pieces. Those are your clusters!
Return the clusters back to the pan, or spread on a lined baking sheet this time, and give them another 10 minutes in the oven to achieve crispy, crunchy clusters.
They’ll continue crisping up as they cool, so make sure to cool completely at room temperature before transferring the clusters to an airtight container (or your mouth).
You can enjoy these maple almond granola clusters with a spoon as you would any granola cereal, in a bowl with regular/nondairy milk or yogurt, but they also make such a great on-the-go snack. Toss some in a take-along container, add them to your favorite trail mix, or sprinkle them on top of oatmeal or ice cream.
FAQ: Can I Include Some Add-ins?
If you want to add some extra goodies to your maple almond granola clusters—such as pumpkin seeds (pepitas) or sunflower seeds, raisins, coconut flakes, dried cranberries—you can, but keep the total amount of add-ins to about 1 and 1/4 cups, including the sliced almonds in the recipe. So use 3/4 cup sliced almonds and 1/2 cup of any other add-in. Too many add-ins = clusters will fall apart and you’ll just have regular granola. Not a bad thing, just not clusters!
Other Healthier Baking Recipes
- Morning Glory Muffins
- Baked Oatmeal
- Healthy Apple Muffins
- Banana Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies
- Greek Yogurt Lemon Bars
For even more inspiration, here are 30+ healthy breakfast ideas.
Print
Maple Almond Granola Clusters
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
- Yield: 5.5 cups
- Category: Snacks
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Try a batch of *just* granola clusters! Bake the mixture in a 9×13-inch baking pan, before breaking up into pieces and returning to the oven. (That’s the cluster trick!) You need just 8 ingredients for this naturally vegan and egg-free recipe. Use certified gluten-free oats to ensure this recipe is gluten free.
Ingredients
- 3 cups (255g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats
- 3/4 cup (75g) almond flour or almond meal
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (95g) sliced, slivered, or chopped almonds (I recommend unsalted)
- 1/3 cup (70g) coconut oil
- 1/3 cup (67g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (80ml) pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F (149°C). Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Mix the oats, almond flour, salt, and almonds together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Combine coconut oil, brown sugar, and maple syrup in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until sugar dissolves. It’s ok if there’s a layer of oil on top. Remove from heat, whisk in the vanilla, and pour over oat mixture. Stir until everything begins to come together. The mixture will be sticky.
- Pour into prepared baking pan and, using a spatula, press mixture tightly into an even layer in the pan.
- Bake for 40 minutes, rotating the pan every 10 minutes to ensure the granola “slab” bakes evenly. Remove the baking pan, but do not turn off the oven. Let the granola slab cool in the pan for 5–10 minutes. (The cooling is crucial!) Lift the granola out of the pan using the parchment overhang on the sides. Cut into squares, and then break up into smaller cluster pieces—be careful, the granola is hot! Place the clusters back into the baking pan, with or without parchment, or spread onto a lined or unlined baking sheet, and bake the clusters for 10 more minutes.
- Remove clusters from the oven and cool completely. Clusters become crunchier the longer they cool.
- Cover and store the cooled clusters at room temperature for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
Notes
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×13-inch Baking Pan | Baking Sheet | Parchment Paper | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Silicone Spatula
- Almond Flour: You can use almond flour or almond meal in this recipe. Almond flour is finely ground blanched almonds. You could also use almond meal, which is coarser. You can purchase almond flour in most grocery stores, and I really like Bob’s Red Mill brand. You can also make it at home, and here’s how: Pulse about 3/4 cup of whole almonds (blanched or not) a few times in a food processor until the almonds are finely ground. Do not let it grind for too long or the nuts will release too much of their oil and turn into homemade almond butter.
- Nut-Free: You can swap almond flour for oat flour, and leave out the sliced almonds. I find this version isn’t quite as crunchy, but it does work.
- Oats: Whole rolled (old-fashioned) oats are the nutritious heart of these granola clusters. I don’t recommend quick or instant oats here—you need whole.
- Coconut Oil: Do not leave this out! The fat keeps granola from turning into a mushy mess and adds crunch and richness to every cluster. You can use butter instead if needed, but don’t substitute a liquid oil—you need a fat that’s solid at room temperature.
- Brown Sugar: The brown sugar adds sweetness, but is also needed to thicken the sticky “sauce” that gets poured over the dry ingredients. You can substitute coconut sugar, if desired.
- Add-Ins: If you want to add some extra goodies to your maple almond granola clusters—such as pumpkin seeds (pepitas) or sunflower seeds, raisins, coconut flakes, dried cranberries—you can, but keep the total amount of add-ins to about 1 and 1/4 cups, including the sliced almonds in the recipe. So use 3/4 cup sliced almonds and 1/2 cup of any other add-in. Keep in mind the clusters may fall apart more depending on the add-ins you use.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 cup
- Calories: 306
- Sugar: 12.3 g
- Sodium: 107 mg
- Fat: 12.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 33 g
- Fiber: 4.1 g
- Protein: 6.3 g
Reader Comments and Reviews
This is so addictive! It’s almost like a “dessert granola”, because it is sweeter (but not too sweet) than a typical granola but SO much better.
We like coconut flake add-on, brother-in-law likes Craisins.
These look awesome – I can’t wait to try – do you know how to make them so they stay chewy?
Hi Sherry, I would simply reduce the baking time. Let me know what you try!
I just made this and I can’t stop eating it! so good!
This was so good and easy!
Love Granola, especially the chunks, so this was perfect. Used pecans, pistachios & dried cranberries as mix ins. Definitely will be making often. Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Karen!
These clusters are so good!!! Everything I’ve made of yours, is absolutely delicious!!!
Above in your comments, you mentioned that you used to use whole wheat flour instead of almond flour. Can that still be used instead of almond flour?
Hi Kathy, I used to use 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour with 1/2 cup of almond flour. Now the recipe calls for 3/4 cup of almond flour (replacing the whole wheat flour, because it’s simply not needed). I do not recommend replacing all 3/4 cup of almond flour with whole wheat flour.
Delicious. Used butter instead of coconut oil.
Wow! Delicious crunchy sweet and toasty! My yogurt will never be the same without these!
This recipe was so good. I left out the almonds and used butter instead of the coconut oil. I love that it’s a wholesome snack that my kids loved. Thanks for a great recipe!
Just pulled these out of the oven, they are…amazing. Perfect for lunches for my high-granola bar consuming family, assuming they make it until Monday (which seems unlikely). Added some chopped flaked coconut, swapped out almonds for pecans.
Can this be made with a lot less sweetener and still get a good texture. If I am going to eat granola I prefer it to be less sweet fir both health and taste preferences.
The granola is delicious! Mine was more crumbly than clusters which is fine but I’m wondering why
Hi Susan, Be sure to let the sugar dissolve. The maple syrup and sugar mixture will be thick and syrup-y to allow those clusters to form.
Thank you, love it. I have been needing a recipe like this.
I do much want to try this recipe but unfortunately where I am now living, maple syrup is extremely expensive. Can I replace maple syrup with honey ? Something else perhaps ?
Thank you so much and best wishes to you !
Hi Emma, absolutely. We would stir it into the brown sugar and coconut oil after removing from heat (when you stir in the vanilla).
I typically substitute avocado oil in recipes that call for coconut oil. I see that it is not recommended for this recipe, how come it would not work? Just looking to learn. Thank you!
Hi Kate! I added butter as a substitute because that is what I have tested. I haven’t tested avocado oil, but I can’t see why it wouldn’t work.
If I wanted to make this a chocolate version, would I just add cocoa powder?
Hi Sondra, I haven’t tested it, but you could certainly try it. I would very slightly reduce down the almond flour in that case. You wouldn’t need much cocoa powder, I don’t think.
Hi, these look so good!
I was wondering if I could substitute honey for the maple syrup as it is not readily available where I live?
Absolutely. I would stir it into the brown sugar and coconut oil after removing from heat (when you stir in the vanilla).
Any replacment ideas for nut allergies?
Hi Hanh, you can use oat flour in place of the almond flour, and leave out the almonds.
I see where you can use oat flour in place of almonds flour. Do you have a recommendation for another nut besides almonds?
Hi BJ, I’m sure you could use another nut and grind it down into a powder. I have not personally tested it, so that’s why I don’t offer it as a substitution. Let me know if you try it. Oat flour works nicely.
Very good. I have been trying for a long while to replicate Cascadian Farms granola. This is every bit as good, if not better and much healthier and less expensive. I left out the almonds. I used Whole Wheat Einkorn flour and almond flour. I’m thankful you went to the trouble to figure this out.
This is the most delicious granola I have ever had. I followed recipe to the T but also added pecan halves and half tablespoons maple extract.
This will make great Christmas gifts and so easy. Even appropriate for gluten free and vegan diets.
This recipe is amazing and so delicious!! Just not as a granola, in my opinion – far too sweet. You could use it as a topping for a dessert and it would be perfect 🙂
I’ve made this many times and am obsessed!! I’m out of brown sugar and want to make another batch! Can this be made with white sugar? Would the amount be the same?
Yes! Same amount. Enjoy!
Hi Sally, would it be possible to add weight measurements to all the recipes? I prefer to use the scale to be as exact as possible and I use conversion charts for now but it would be awesome if there were gram measurements on here.
Thanks for all your recipes, we make so many of them and they are amazing! I hope you’re making good money from the ads on here
Hi Brian! Almost all of our recipes include weight measurements, but some of our oldest recipes (like this one) do not have them. We’re so glad you’re enjoying making our recipes. Happy baking!
Hi! This looks amazing and I really wanted to have the clusters, but mine wasn’t nearly sticky enough…what do you suggest I do?
Hi Kay, Did you make any ingredient substitutions? You can add a bit more maple syrup if it’s not sticky enough – and be sure you are really pressing it into the pan to bake!
I made this (using coconut sugar) and it was very good, thank you.
Sally!!! This is amazing! ! I have made most all of your granola vanilla almond is my top favorite! ! I do have a question….I made this exactly to recipe, but mine is not sticky….and no clusters lol just crumbly which I will say is still amazing and I am on my second round in 3 days lol but…where is says let sugar dissolve, do you mean until it is like syrup again or will it always stay slightly grainy from the sugar? I have my second batch in the oven now with a tweak. …well see!!thank you for all the joy you share with everyone and your hard work on perfecting your recipes!!xoxo
Yes, let the sugar dissolve. The maple syrup and sugar mixture will be thick and syrup-y. Glad you enjoy my granola recipes!
LOVE these!!!!! I love that they do not use any processed sugar and that they are vegan! Delicious granola.
Omg, I tried your Vanilla-Almond Granola. Two words. IN LOVE! IT WAS SOOOO GOOD! But, I was trying to look for a vanilla-almond granola cluster recipe and here it is! Ugh! I love your website so much! Trying the blueberry whole wheat pancakes tomorrow! <3
Oh my goodness – these are DELICIOUS! I used coconut oil and the flavor is superb. I highly recommend using if you have any…the coconut flavor while subtle, adds a whole other dimension. Thank you so much for this recipe. Clusters are my favorite, and I will be making batches to pass out as holiday treats!!
I made them yesterday and turned out great!!!! Thank you!