It’s got nuts, orange, cinnamon—what could be more breakfasty? But also, that’s what’s in baklava! You can have a bowl of nourishing granola that tastes like the most heavenly treat out there. It’s really happening, everybody. The orange zest is optional, but highly recommended if you keep oranges around. Bonus: While it’s baking, your house smells like baklava!–Leanne Brown
Baklava Granola FAQs
This is perhaps one of the most customizable recipes on our site. You can go wild with adding all the different types of nuts you like. The only thing we recommend you not change is the old-fashioned rolled oats.
You can store the granola in an airtight container at room temp or in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months.
Microwave: Spoon the oil into a glass bowl, cover with a paper towel, and melt on 50% power in 15-second bursts.
Stovetop: Spoon the oil into a small saucepan and warm over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until melted.
Baklava Granola
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups (14 oz) old-fashioned rolled oats (quick-cooking or steel cut oats won’t work well)
- 1 1/2 cups (6 oz) roughly chopped mixed nuts (any variety or mix will do, salted or unsalted, roasted or raw)
- Zest of 1 navel orange, preferably organic (optional)
- 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more if needed
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup honey
- 6 dates, pitted and chopped or 1/2 cup (3 oz or 85g) raisins or other dried fruit, coarsely chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, nuts, orange zest, if using, cinnamon, and salt. Add the coconut oil and honey and stir the mixture until moist throughout. Taste and, if desired, stir in additional salt.
- Spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned all over, about 45 minutes, stirring and rotating the baking sheet every 15 minutes so that the granola crisps evenly and the edges don’t get too dark.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and carefully stir in the chopped dates or dried fruit, if using. Let the granola cool on the baking sheet. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
My husband came in and said that it smells like Christmas. The wonderful scent of cinnamon and orange went through the entire house. The baklava granola itself is quite nice and the essence of orange is very pleasant but if you like sweet you will want to add additional honey. For the nuts,I used what I had on hand which turned out to be a combination of almonds, walnuts, pecans, and some pepitas for good measure. I served the granola with yogurt and blueberries.
Stirring every 10 to 15 minutes is a must. My granola was quite brown after only 30 minutes. It could be because I have a gas oven and the top element goes on having a broiler effect.
I love both baklava and homemade granola so this was a win-win for me! The baklava granola has a subtle sweetness from the honey and is not cloying like supermarket brands.
The recipe offers a great deal of flexibility with ingredients; I used only walnuts because that is how we’ve always made baklava in my family but you could use any nuts or combination of nuts you like. I omitted the orange zest and swapped out the dates for dried tart cherries which I stirred in after the granola was baked; I will cut back the salt next time I make this. Greek yogurt was a natural partner for the baklava granola and it was also tasty as a cold cereal with almond milk. This would make a lovely food gift during the holiday season.
This baklava granola is amazing. Some of the very best that I’ve made and I don’t say that lightly. I’ve made a ton of granola – some from recipes and some just riffing off of what I have on hand. This turned out SO good. Such a great flavor, adaptable to what you have on hand, super easy to put together and just sweet enough without being over the top. My only fault with it is that I completely disagree that the dates and orange zest are options – they make this! This granola is 100% worth getting out of bed for!
I used equal amounts of blanched hazelnuts, salted peanuts, blanched almonds and pistachio kernels. In step 2 I felt like the mixture was a little dry, but I didn’t add any more liquid. The end result seemed ok in terms of moisture. I cooked my granola for 45 minutes and while it was cooking I wondered how I would know if it was cooked. When it had cooked for 45 minutes the granola was much browner than before and I thought that it was then adequately cooked. I served some of mine with natural yoghurt (15% fat) and morello cherry compote. The rest I stored in jars for later. I thought the granola was a little salty in taste and that it lacked sweetness when eaten by itself. However none of these characteristics were evident when I served it with the yoghurt and compote. I would make the granola again as the recipe states.
After trying this recipe, there is no need to ever buy granola at the store again. Baklava granola is heavenly. We started eating this right off of the baking pan and haven’t really stopped. It’s tasty on yogurt and sprinkled over homemade applesauce. I used a combination of pistachios, almonds and cashews along with golden raisins (instead of the dates). This recipe is so flexible and it’s fun that you can use whatever nuts or dried fruits you have in the house. I found the orange zest to be an important component that, together with the cinnamon made a warm, cozy flavorful granola.
Wow… adding orange zest to homemade granola is a revelation. I make homemade granola a lot… I’ll definitely be adding orange zest in the future! This recipe was also nice (for me) because it was less sweet than most recipes. The ingredients were spot on in terms of amounts and flavor combos.
The house smells heavenly with the scent of orange, cinnamon and toasted nuts in this granola. I used up some almonds and pecans I had in the freezer for cookies. For the dried fruit, added my favorite dried apricots. I appreciate it isn’t too sweet and has a nice balance of sweetness & more importantly great flavors.
The parchment lined baking sheet will make for quick clean up. I lifted the corner towards the center to help with the stirring process.
That looks wonderful, Lily. Great tip about using the parchment to help with the stirring!
The recipe says that it makes 6 cups. In the nutritional info, it gives amounts per serving, but does not say what amount is a serving size! Based on those big calorie and fat/sugar gram numbers, I am assuming that it correlates to a 1 cup measure. Could you clarify? Also, can you make this substituting olive or grapeseed oil for the coconut oil? I don’t use coconut oil due to the saturated fat and the taste. Thanks in advance for your advice.
Thanks, Karen. Yes, you are correct, the nutritional information is for 1 cup of granola. We didn’t try it with another type of oil, but I think it should work fine. If you prefer a more neutral flavor, I’d use grapeseed oil.