This cranberry orange granola is a fun twist on the classic homemade granola recipe! With dried cranberries and orange zest it makes a wonderful holiday gift to give to family and friends. And making your own granola is always a great way to save a few dollars.
I love browsing in chi-chi food boutiques. I don’t like the prices they charge. So, instead, I’ve chosen to make my own delicious gifts to give to friends and family.
This gift of good taste is one the boys and I experimented with just this morning. We took our standard granola recipe and doctored it up with some fresh orange zest and dried cranberries. Delish!
Cranberry Orange Granola Ingredients
- Brown Sugar – To sweeten the granola. I love the caramel and molasses flavor it gives to the granola.
- Neutral Oil – You want to use something neutral like vegetable or canola oil that won’t impart a strong flavor.
- Powdered milk – Otherwise known as dry milk.
- Water – You will add this to the wet mixture that gets heated on the stove.
- Cinnamon – I added some cinnamon for some wonderful spice!
- Vanilla extract – Vanilla is an easy way to add more flavor to your granola.
- Salt – A little sweetness always need to be balanced out with some salt.
- Orange – You want to use just the zest of the orange. Avoid the white layer underneath as that can be very bitter.
- Rolled Oats – I used old fashioned rolled oats because I like the texture. Quick oats and steel cut oats don’t have the right texture.
- Nuts – You can use any combination of chopped nuts. You can also omit them if need be.
- Cranberries – I used dried cranberries. Be sure to add these to the granola after its been baked so they don’t burn.
How to make this cranberry granola
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Preheat the oven to 300°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat.
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In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar, oil, powdered milk, water, cinnamon, vanilla, salt, and orange zest. Heat until well blended.
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In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats and nuts.
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Pour the sugar mixture over the oats and nuts mixture, stirring to combine.
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Spread the granola on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 40-45 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes. Cool on a rack.
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Once cool, stir in the cranberries and serve with milk or yogurt.
What’s the best way to store granola?
HOW LONG SHOULD YOU COOK GRANOLA?
How long you cook the granola depends on how much you’re making and what temperature you bake it at. Low heat is helpful as it allows the oats to crisp without burning.
Generally speaking you’ll need 30 to 60 minutes to cook a batch of granola.
WHAT KIND OF OATS DO YOU USE IN GRANOLA?
Old-fashioned rolled oats are best for making granola. Steel-cut and quick oats don’t have the right texture to complement granola. That said, flaked rye, quinoa, and spelt are all great additions to the rolled oats.
HOW CAN YOU SAVE MORE WHEN MAKING THIS RECIPE?
Nuts and cranberries can be costly. Consider these strategies from the Good Cheap Eats System to help you lower your costs even more:
- Use what you have. You don’t need to go out for a specific nut or seed if you don’t have it. Feel free to use whatever you’ve got in the house, varying the amounts to suit. You can also increase the proportion of oats since they’re so much cheaper than the other ingredients.
- Make a plan for leftover ingredients. Since nuts are somewhat of an investment, be sure that you’ll have a use for the rest of the package. Likewise, be sure to freeze the granola for longest storage if you don’t think you’ll eat it up in a couple weeks.
- Visit the store with the best prices. The cost of nuts and cranberries can vary widely from store to store. Compare prices so you know where to stock up. (I usually get my nuts and seeds at Trader Joe’s and maple syrup at Costco.
- Check the sales and clearance. When you see great prices, load up on these ingredients so you can have granola whenever you want.
If you prepare this recipe, be sure to take a picture and hashtag it #GOODCHEAPEATS. I can't wait to see what you cook up!
Cranberry-Orange Granola
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup neutral oil
- 1/2 cup powdered milk
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 orange , zested
- 5 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup chopped nuts
- 1 cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar, oil, powdered milk, water, cinnamon, vanilla, salt, and orange zest. Heat until well blended.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats and nuts.
- Pour the sugar mixture over the oats and nuts mixture, stirring to combine.
- Spread the granola on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 40-45 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes. Cool on a rack.
- Once cool, stir in the cranberries and serve with milk or yogurt.
- Store granola in an airtight container for up to a week at room temperature.
Hoosier Homemade
Yum!!! That looks great! Do you buy dried cranberries? Like craraisins? Or dry them yourself. I have never tried to dry them.
Thanks for hosting!
~Liz
FishMama
I just use craisins.
Christian Frugal Mama
Yay! Thank you thank you thank you!! I warned my family they're all getting homemade stuff this year and I've been looking for ideas! I really appreciate this topic!
Jimi
The granola looks awesome! Do you just eat it like cereal, with milk?
We love giving food gifts at the holidays! I just hope our friends like receiving them. 🙂
FishMama
Jimi, we eat it dry, with yogurt, or with milk.
Lynn
This looks like a great gift, FishMama. Nice and healthy and you don't have to feel like you need to hurry and eat it before it goes bad. Great idea to do this linky carnival, too. (Is that the official name, "linky carnival"? 😉 )
6p0120a5dc1e23970b
The colour and the shape of the cranberries make it so festival. Great gift idea, thanks very much!
Homemakers Cottage
Oh, yum! My kids and I LOVE homemade granola… and this looks delicious!! Can't wait to try it out! ~Kristy
Amber
I can't wait to try this recipe – yummmmm! I do have a question though – Can I use a Silpat lined baking sheet instead of a greased one? I think I love my Silpat just as much as you do and I was planning on using it, but was worried about a potential, unforseen problem. Thanks for the wonderful site – I love it!
Susieqtpie
Love it! I have something similar going on my blog! Can you come link up? Thanks so much! Holiday Recipe Exchange http://bit.ly/cOOkBook
For Their Future
Oooo! i love garnola! I will have to get me some cranberries and orange zest now!
Thanks!
For Their Future
I could not find the Mister Linky to post this in, so thought I would leave it in this comment!
It is a link to my recipe "sugar free Carrot cake"!
http://preparingforourchildrensfuture.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-favorite-sugar-free-carrot-cake.html
Merrilee
Yum! We just made it today for breakfast this week. I love the orange in it. Thanks for sharing. I found your blog from a link on another, but can’t remember which one now! 🙂
Cassie
This may be an odd question…I’ve never seen milk powder in a granola recipe. What’s its roll? In other words, is it there for flavor, nutrition, bulk, etc.? I love the combo of orange and cranberry. My favorite Christmas cookie recipe is a cranberry-orange-dark chocolate cookie. Yum!
Michelle
Hi Jessica,
I love reading your blog! I have a question about the granola. Can you use regular milk instead of powdered milk? What is the purpose of the powdered milk in this recipe?
Michelle
Jessica Fisher
You can omit it if you want. It adds calcium and protein, but omitting it won’t ruin the recipe.
Cassie
Hi Jessica! I made the cranberry orange granola today. It’s very tasty, but I was wondering what kind of texture you get out of yours. I tend to like granola that has clusters in it–where the oats and/or nuts have stuck together to make crunchy little chunks. What I got with this was a lot of delicious individual oats and nuts, but no clusters. Do you think substituting honey for the brown sugar would yield more “clustery” results?
Jessica Fisher
I don’t think it’s the sweetener. I just made some with brown sugar and got the clumps and sometimes when I use honey, I don’t. I think it has to do with the size of the pan and the amount of stirring. I also think it’s more of an art than a science.
Sarah
Oh my.. I just took my slightly modified version out of the oven.. so so delicious and simple to make! Thanks! Will be blogging about it over at zoeslunchbox.com
Mary Ellen
Is it really one Tablespoon of cinnamon or teaspoon? The cinnamon smell is knocking me out. Is that normal? I used my Saigon cinnamon.
Jessica Fisher
Yes, it’s one tablespoon, but feel free to use less if you prefer.
Sarah @ Feed My Family
Just made this this afternoon and the initial assessment is delicious! I’ve never tried dry milk in granola and thought that was interesting. I subbed some rice crispies for some of the oats and left out the nuts {per my family’s preferences and normal granola} and it’s great. I only stirred it once and ended up with some decent sized clumps, just the way we like it!
Jessica Fisher
I’ve been wanting to sub rice krispies as an experiment. Glad to know it works!
Brooke Kingston
This is our family’s very favorite granola! I love to make batches and give them as gifts. The orange zest makes it sing! The only modification I make is to substitute orange juice for the water. I can use the whole orange up for the recipe. Thank you m, this is an absolute winner!!!
Jessica Fisher
Great idea to use the whole orange. Thanks so much for sharing, Brooke!