Homemade Apple Pie Granola

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This Homemade Apple Pie Granola is big buttery oat clusters with cinnamon, apple pie spice, a little maple and brown sugar, and crunchy bits of apple chips all through it. It tastes like the top of an apple pie, and it's just as good over yogurt as it is eaten by the handful straight out of the jar. If you're baking through a bag of apples this fall, my Apple Cider Muffins are a good one to make the same morning.

This is a one-bowl, one-pan recipe. You whisk the wet ingredients in a measuring cup, stir them into the oats, spread it on a sheet pan, and bake. The apple chips go right in with the oats, so there's no chopping and nothing to cook down first.

Make a jar on Sunday, and breakfast is handled for the week. If you want the same flavors in a weekend-brunch form, my Apple Cinnamon Rolls and Apple Cider Donuts are the two I'd pull out.

Quick Look: Homemade Apple Pie Granola

⏱️ Prep Time: 10 minutes
🕒 Total Time: 45 minutes
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Servings: 14
📊 Calories: ~280 kcal per serving
🥣 Ingredients: Old fashioned oats, butter, maple syrup, brown sugar, apple chips, apple pie spice, cinnamon, vanilla, salt.
⭐ Difficulty: Easy — whisk, stir, spread and bake, with a stir every 10 minutes or so.

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Table of Contents

Why You'll Love This Recipe

Simple Ingredients. Oats, butter, maple syrup, brown sugar, a couple of spices and a bag of apple chips. Nothing here needs a special trip, and if you bake in the fall you probably have most of it already.

One Bowl, One Pan. The wet ingredients get whisked in a measuring cup and poured over the dry, then the whole thing goes on one sheet pan. Cleanup is the bowl, the cup and a piece of parchment.

It Keeps All Week. Using apple chips instead of fresh apples means this granola stays crunchy in an airtight container for 2-4 weeks. That makes it an easy make-ahead breakfast or after-school snack.

If you're in an apple-for-breakfast mood, my Apple Spice Muffins and Apple Walnut Fritter Bread are the other two I make on repeat this time of year.

Ingredients Needed

Old-fashioned oats: The base of the granola. Use old-fashioned (rolled) oats, not quick oats — they hold their shape and give you the crunchy clusters you want.
Maple syrup: Use the real stuff, not pancake syrup. It sweetens the granola and adds that warm maple flavor that goes so well with apple.
Apple chips or freeze-dried apples: Lightly crush them before they go in so you get apple in every bite instead of a few big pieces. Either the crunchy apple chips or freeze-dried apple slices work here. Because they're already dried, they bake right along with the oats and keep the finished granola crunchy.

How to Make Apple Pie Granola

Butter mixed together in a bowl with the spices.

Step 1: Whisk the melted butter with the maple syrup, vanilla, salt, apple pie spice, and cinnamon until combined.
Step 2: Add the oats, brown sugar, and crushed apple chips to a large bowl.

Melted butter and spices all mixed together in a bowl with the oats and apple chips.

Step 3: Pour the butter mixture over the oats and stir until everything is well coated.
Step 4: Spread the granola onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake, stirring a few times, until golden. Let it cool completely on the pan, then break it up into chunks.

Baked apple pie granola on a baking sheet.

Recipe Tips

Line the pan with parchment. The maple and brown sugar get sticky as they bake. Parchment keeps the granola from welding itself to the sheet pan and makes cleanup a matter of tossing a piece of paper.
It won't feel crunchy when it comes out of the oven. Granola crisps up as it cools, so don't keep baking it looking for crunch or you'll burn the sugar. Pull it when it's golden and let it sit on the pan.
Let it cool completely before you touch it. This is the step that makes clusters. If you break it up while it's warm you get loose oats. Leave it alone until the pan is cool, then break it into chunks the size you like.
Crush the apple chips, don't pulverize them. You want pieces, not powder. A few squeezes in the bag with your hands is plenty.

A chunk of apple granola being picked up.

Recipe FAQ's

Do the apple chips go in before or after baking?

Before. They go in the bowl with the oats and brown sugar, get coated in the butter mixture and bake right along with everything else. Because they're already dried, they don't add moisture and they stay crunchy.

Can I use fresh apples instead of apple chips?

This recipe was written and tested with apple chips or freeze-dried apples. Fresh apples add moisture, which changes both the bake and how long the granola keeps, so I'd stick with dried for this one.

How do I get big clusters?

Spread the granola on the pan, stir gently and in big sections when you do stir, and then leave it completely alone until it's cool. Breaking it up while it's warm is what turns clusters into loose oats.

How long does homemade apple granola last?

Store it in an airtight container at room temperature and it keeps for 2-4 weeks. Make sure it's fully cool before it goes in the container or the trapped steam will soften it.

How do you eat it?

Over yogurt, in a bowl with milk, or by the handful as a snack. It's also good sprinkled over vanilla ice cream or a baked apple.