Many of us need to celebrate the season from morning to night and Gingerbread Granola and a free printable gift tag does just that! Combine this with a steamy hot cup of coffee for the perfect chilly holiday morning. You can make four pints in less than an hour!
Updated October 2020 {WW 9 Purple, 11 Blue, 11 Green, Vegetarian, Gluten Free} with more detailed instructions and accessibility.
We originally launched Gingerbread Granola as our first recipe in our Christmas in July celebrations in 2019! That was such a fun 25 days of recipes and decorations! This was and still is the NUMBER ONE RECIPE from that series. Our readers went crazy over it. This recipe is a fabulous addition for a perfect holiday breakfast that you can enjoy all season! If you aren’t a gingerbread fan but know someone that is, make them the granola as a sweet gift. They will love you for it!
Why it Works
Fast – This is another quick and easy recipe to whip up with virtually no effort. You do have to cook it for 40 minutes but the rest of this recipe is a super simple “pour everything together, stir and pour onto sheet pan” and that’s it. There is no brain power needed to make this one so here’s to everyone who needs last minute gifts on no sleep!
Gifts People Actually Want – Making this into pint size jars for gift giving with the tag is allowing you to give a thoughtful and useful gift to friends, neighbors, volunteers and teachers that they actually will adore. This is one of those jar gifts that can be considered helpful, useful and won’t just sit in the cabinet.
🎄 Ingredients
There isn’t anything much more festive than gingerbread flavored anything! This granola is so simple to make and is the perfect fall and holiday snack that the entire family will enjoy. Here are the main ingredients to get you started:
Nuts: You can use a combination of nuts that you like! We chose to use almonds and pecans because they are ultimate favorites. Plus, they give a nice crunch and taste fabulous with the spices too.
Honey & Molasses: The combination of both honey and molasses is out of this world. It gives you a sweetness, but it’s not overpowering or overwhelming.
Spices: Ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg give you an explosion of delightful holiday flavors. It doesn’t get much better than these spices together.
📌 Instructions
If you have ever made granola before, you know how super easy it is! If you haven’t, you are in for a quick treat and you’ll wish you had been making it all along. When this recipe starts toasting, you will smell the holiday scents and will want to start playing Christmas music, put up a tree and decorate cookies! Seriously, the smells are amazing! It is full of cinnamon, ginger and cloves. You get the picture!
Step One: Combine all of the wet ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.
Step Two: Add all of the dry ingredients to a second bowl and pour the wet ingredients over it. Mix well by hand.
Step Three: Lay the mixture out on a parchment paper lined sheet pan to roast and you are pretty much done! Roast at 300 degrees for a total of 40 minutes. If it isn’t quite done, give it another 5-10 minutes.
Step Four: Check the granola half-way through and give it a turn so it won’t burn. I try not to walk too far away from the kitchen so if it starts toasting too much, I’m there to catch it.
Once it comes out of the oven, allow it to cool for a few minutes and then break it apart and allow it to fully cool.
You have the option to leave it in clumps or completely break it apart. That part is all up to you and how you like your granola.
🍯 Meal Prepping
This one is a snap to prep the night before!
- Gather up your dry ingredients and place in a bowl. Cover.
- Measure up the wet ingredients and cover.
- Get out the sheet pan and prep.
The next morning, simply combine the ingredients and lay on the sheet pan. It will take you less than five minutes of prep work in the morning to get it in the oven. I don’t know about you, but I love it when I can prep these the night before and have it all ready to go in no time flat!
🎁 Gift Giving Options
This is just a gem of a recipe to give as a gift. There are three options shown above. Choose between a decorative plastic gift bag, brown paper bag, or decorative jars. Make it look nice by tying it with a holiday ribbon and the free gingerbread man gift tag.
🎀 Free Gift Tag Printable
We’ve included a free Gingerbread Granola Gift tag printable that you can add to your jar! Print it out on 8.5 x 11″ paper and simply cut around the pattern. Hole punch an opening and add a ribbon to make this a VERY decorative gift tag.
Download the Gift Tag Printable.
FAQ
If stored in an air tight container, it is safe for 2-3 weeks. You can freeze it for a couple of months though.
No. I recommend staying with the traditional old fashioned oats. The grain is thinner and meant to be cooked for one minute. It will not do as well in the oven for the amount of time you need to roast this recipe.
Two things go into this. 1 is that it was cooked at too high of a heat which causes the ingredients to not dry out and become crispy. Keep the temperatures low. 2 is that you live somewhere humid and the humidity is just added moisture and it makes it soggy. Make sure that you keep this in a sealed container.
If you choose to use the brown bag for gifts, just seal it up in a good quality Ziplock bag first.
A lot of people like granola that is in bigger chunks. You can achieve that by making sure you have stirred all the ingredients well before putting on the sheet pan. Once you turn the granola over about ½ way into the time, don’t touch it again. The bigger clusters will form together.
Absolutely! Mix in what nuts you like. This recipe is flexible like that! I do like to chop the nuts down to a smaller size when I know I want to use the granola on yogurt. It just keeps all the pieces a similar size.
Gingerbread Granola Recipe
Equipment
- Sheet Pan
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 3 cups Old Fashioned Oats
- 2 cups Nuts I used almonds and pecans
Wet Ingredients
- ¼ cup Honey
- ¼ cup Coconut Oil
- 3 tbsp Molasses
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 2 tsp Ground Ginger
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- ½ tsp Cloves
- ½ tsp Nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 300 degrees.
- Mix the oats and nuts in a bowl. Set aside.
- Mix the honey, coconut oil, molasses, vanilla and all the spices in a bowl and stir to combine.
- Pour all the wet ingredients over the dry and mix gently by hand to coat everything evenly.
- Spread out on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and place it in the oven.
- Cook for 20 minutes and give the granola a good mix on the sheet pan. Cook an additional 20 minutes.
- Remove after 40 minutes and let it cool.
- Break up the larger chunks by hand after it has cooled.
- Serve on yogurt, in milk, or just as a crunchy snack!
Notes
Nutrition
Hi!
Ginny Collins is a passionate foodie and recipe creator of Savor and Savvy and Kitchenlaughter. Indoors she focuses on easy, quick recipes for busy families and kitchen basics. Outdoors, she focuses on backyard grilling and smoking to bring family and friends together. She is a lifelong learner who is always taking cooking classes on her travels overseas and stateside. Her work has been featured on MSN, Parade, Fox News, Yahoo, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and many local news outlets. She lives in Florida where you will find her outside on the water in her kayak, riding her bike on trails, and planning her next overseas adventure.
Made the cutest neighbor gifts and smelled so good while baking!
I’m so happy they worked out! Cheers! Ginny
I was excited to make this and give it as gifts. I followed the recipe exactly. Unfortunately, the edges burned. Thankfully, I should have enough from the center of the pan to give. I’ll try shortening the bake time next time I make it.
What a great gift idea!
What a great recipe! I made this yesterday to test it for gift giving and it is a winner! At first as I measured the spices, I thought it seemed like a lot but it was perfect. The only adjustment I will make is on the time baked. Everyone’s oven is different so next batch I will try taking it out at 30 minutes. I watched and stirred mine closely and took it out at 35 minutes in first batch. Still great though. I will be including a jar in my auction basket for my Sunday School fundraiser. Thanks for this recipe and printable! ❤️
I love adjustments too! Thanks for sharing yours. It’s fun to swap ideas!!
How many jars does one recipe make?
Hi there! I was able to get 4 pints from it. I hope you enjoy! 🙂
Great recipe! This is what I was looking for 🙂 Thank you!
Thank you so much, Barbara!!! That is too sweet of you to come back and comment!! Happy holidays!
I’ve never frozen granola before, how does it defrost? Still crispy or soft?
Tia
Hi, could you suggest a replacement oil for the coconut oil the recipe includes? My daughter and I both are severely allergic to coconut. We usually substitute olive oil, but am curious what you would suggest! Thanks!
Hi Mary! Thanks for stopping by! You can absolutely use olive oil, sunflower oil or canola. Thanks to your question, I’ll go back into the recipe card and add the substitutions! Let me know if I can do anything else! Cheers!! 🙂