Last updated on May 26th, 2025

Ingredients
How to make Cherry Almond Granola
Dietary Substitutions
Equipment
Storage
Related Recipes
More granola recipes

This Cherry Almond Granola has nutty almond clusters, tart dried cherries and naturally sweetened with honey. It’s packed with wholesome superfoods like pepitas, flax seeds, and coconut. Superfoods make a great addition as they are nutrient dense, high in antioxidants, low in sugar, and packed with protein.

This recipe was one of my first products sold in my specialty bakery over 12 years ago. It is similar to my cranberry almond granola and super easy to swap out ingredients to make it your own. Bake up this easy granola recipe for a wholesome breakfast on yogurt or as a on-the-go snack.

Ingredients

Wet Ingredients

Honey is produced by honeybees from the nectar of flowers that is considered an unrefined natural sugar.
Canola oil is perfect for baking as it has a neutral and light flavor.
Cherry juice is made when fresh cherries are pressed to extract their natural juice.
Vanilla provides hints of caramel and spice, enhancing the depth of flavor to baked goods. The best quality is an all-natural and made from real vanilla beans containing at least 35% alcohol.

Superfood Mix-Ins

Pepitas, otherwise known as pumpkin seeds, have a mild, nutty flavor eaten either raw or toasted.
Coconut is the fruit of palm trees found in tropical regions, that comes either unsweetened or sweetened and in various forms, such as coconut flakes, shredded or finely shredded.
Cranberry seeds are small, hard seeds found in cranberries. While typically not eaten on their own, they add a tart punch of nutritional value to snacks or smoothies.
Flax seeds are the unprocessed seeds of the flax plant that come in brown or golden varieties, and are available whole or ground into a fine flaxseed meal.
Dried cherries are made from ripe cherries harvested in mid-summer and then dehydrated to concentrate their flavor and natural sweetness.

Dry Ingredients

Almonds are seeds from the almond tree, native to the Middle East that have a mild, nutty flavor and crunchy texture and considered a tree nut.
Oats are a whole grain that are high in fiber and available in their natural whole form, or as quick oats, which are finely cut and pre-cooked.
Brown sugar is granulated sugar combined with molasses, sold as either light brown sugar (with 3.5% molasses) or dark brown sugar (with 6.5% molasses) for a more robust flavor.
Cinnamon comes from dried bark from the tropical Asian cinnamon tree and is available as whole cinnamon sticks or ground. There are two types: Cassia which has a warm, sweet flavor, and Ceylon known as “true cinnamon”, which has an intense spicy bite.
Pink salt is a type of rock salt found near the Himalayas, that contains trace minerals and is less processed than table salt.

How to make Cherry Almond Granola

Baker’s Tips

For chunky granola clusters, press granola firmly into the baking sheet and only stir granola once at the end when adding the dried fruit.
Use light-colored, aluminum cookie sheets to reflect even heat during the baking process. Dark cookie sheets conduct more heat off the surface, which may burn or darken on the edges before they are fully cooked through.

Dietary Substitutions

Making granola can be very versatile and you can basically swap out the ingredients to fit your dietary needs.

For the oil, substitute a neutral tasting coconut oil or extra light olive oil.

If you need to avoid certain types of nuts like tree nuts, swap out the almonds and coconut with peanuts or seeds like sunflower seeds or hemp seeds.

If you have a tree nut allergy avoid these: almonds, walnuts, pecans, cashews, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts, chestnuts and coconut.

Equipment

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Storage

Store in an airtight container such as a glass jar on counter up to 2 weeks.
You can also seal in in freezer safe bags using a heat sealer for up to 6 months.