White Chocolate Orange Granola
If you’ve never made homemade granola, this healthy White Chocolate Orange Granola recipe is sure to get you hooked. It’s slightly fruity, sweet and perfect for breakfast or snack time. Gluten-free and can easily be made vegan, too!
Move over, store-bought granola! As soon as you make this homemade granola recipe, you’ll never want to buy a box of granola again.
I used to think making homemade granola was too much effort. Until one day I made it and realized it’s actually really easy to do. I haven’t done the math, but it’s probably cheaper than store-bought varieties (especially if you buy your ingredients in bulk) so save your money and try this recipe!
If you’re not already convinced, here are a few more reasons.
Why You’ll Love This Orange Granola:
The orange flavour is there, but it’s not overpowering. Just enough to give you a hint of fruity citrus in your granola.
It’s a versatile. Use this White Chocolate Orange Granola on yogurt, smoothies or eat it with milk like cereal! I also don’t blame you if you want to eat it on it’s own. 🙂
You can mix up your add-ins. Don’t have pecans? Use almonds or walnuts. Skip the dried cranberries if you want or use dark chocolate chips instead! It’s totally up to you and your preferences.
How to Make White Chocolate Orange Granola:
Let me tell you how simple it is!
Start with your orange zest and brown sugar in a small bowl. With your fingers, rub them together until the mixture is fragrant and bright orange. This will help infuse orange flavour into the orange granola. I learned this trick from Cookie and Kate!
Next, to a large mixing bowl add rolled oats, pecans (or whatever nuts you choose), cinnamon and salt. Mix them together – I typically use a wooden spoon! Then add your melted coconut oil and pure maple syrup and mix well to coat the mixture.
Pour the orange granola mixture onto a prepared baking sheet. You’ll want to have the baking sheet covered with parchment paper or aluminum foil. If you use aluminum, it’s a good idea to spray it with non-stick cooking spray or brush it with melted coconut oil. We want the granola mixture sticking to itself, not the baking sheet!
Bake the evenly-spread granola at 350F for 25-30 minutes. Remove it from the oven half way (I did this around 13 minutes) to stir. The granola should be golden brown when it’s done! It took about 26 minutes in the oven for me.
Important step: Let the granola cool on the baking sheet for at least 1 hour after removing from the oven. This allows the granola to crisp up even more and helps us get those granola chunks we all know and love!
That’s it! Serve it or store it in an airtight container up to 2 weeks and enjoy!
Things to Note:
If you want a more neutral granola, you can totally leave out the orange zest. It will still be delicious!
You can also sub the white chocolate chips for semi-sweet or dark.
Remember to let the granola cool at least one hour after removing from the oven! This is crucial for crunchy granola with some chunks!
It also helps to lightly press the granola down with the back of a spoon or spatula after flipping half way. This also helps get more orange granola chunks!
Similar Recipes You’ll Love:
Orange Cardamom Tahini Granola
Chocolate Chunk Baked Oatmeal Cups
White Chocolate Orange Granola
Ingredients
- Zest of 1 medium orange
- 2 tbsp brown sugar, sub. coconut sugar
- 4 cups oats
- 1 cup raw pecans, or other nut
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/3 cup white chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil. If using aluminum foil, generously spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray or grease with coconut oil.
- Add the orange zest to a small bowl and sprinkle with brown sugar. Gently, with clean fingers, rub the zest and brown sugar together until bright orange and well-combined. This will help infuse the granola with orange flavour.
- In a large mixing bowl, add oats, pecans, cinnamon, salt and orange zest/ brown sugar mixture. Mix well to combine.
- Add melted coconut oil and maple syrup and stir well to combine.
- Transfer the granola onto the prepared baking sheet. Spread into an even layer with spoon or spatula. Place in the oven to bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes, stirring halfway.
- Stir the granola at the halfway point and before returning to the oven, gently press the granola down with the back of your spoon. This will help to create granola chunks.
- After 25-30 minutes (granola should be golden in colour), remove from the oven. Allow the granola to cool for at least 1 hour. Do not skip this step! The granola will crisp up during this time giving us more crunchy, chunky granola.
- After cooling, add in white chocolate chips and dried cranberries (optional). Serve immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 weeks. Enjoy!
