Perfect for breakfast or as an after-school treat, this homemade birthday cake granola is wonderfully crunchy and filled with vanilla and almond flavor. Whip it up in under an hour with just 10 pantry ingredients!
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📋 About the Recipe
- This vanilla almond birthday cake granola cooks up wonderfully crunchy and golden brown right in the oven. Eat it like cereal with milk and fresh fruit for a balance of flavors and textures.
- It's a great kid friendly treat that they're sure to love! Serve it for breakfast or as an after-school snack.
- It's a homemade, healthy treat made with protein-rich nuts and fiber-rich oats and coconut, and sweetened with honey. A great combination for snacking!
- Crunchy vanilla almond birthday cake granola is a quick and easy recipe made from simple pantry ingredients. In just a few steps and 30 minutes of bake time, you'll have a yummy healthy snack in no time.
- With vanilla and almond extracts, it tastes like a yellow birthday cake topped with vanilla frosting! Plus, kid's love how fun and festive it is with the addition of white chocolate chips and rainbow sprinkles.
- Try other delicious homemade granola recipes, like my chunky apple cinnamon granola! Or healthy breakfast options like chocolate baked oats and baked oats for one!
🛒 Ingredients
A few notes about the ingredients:
- Old fashioned oats - oats are a very common base for granola recipes. Make sure to use old fashioned oats, instead of instant, quick, or steel-cut. Instant and quick oats will absorb too much of the oil and maple syrup, making the granola soggy instead of crunchy, while the steel-cut oats will be too tough.
- Sliced almonds - the almonds toast in the oven as the ingredients cook, so make sure to start with raw, un-toasted nuts. The almonds add great flavor and crunch. Also, make sure to buy sliced or slivered almonds, as whole almonds would be too large and hard to chew compared to the rest of the granola.
- Unsweetened coconut - coconut adds flavor and a subtle sweetness. Make sure to buy unsweetened coconut, since it'll be sweetened with the honey instead!
- Honey - honey helps sweeten the granola, while also caramelizing it so it sticks together and remains crunchy. You can also use any of your favorite sweeteners instead.
- Coconut oil - coconut oil prevents it from drying out. It helps bind it and keep it all together.
- Vanilla extract, almond extract - vanilla and almond extract bring additional birthday cake flavor.
- White chocolate chips - the white chocolate chips melt over the top of the granola and taste similar to a birthday cake frosting.
- Rainbow sprinkles - sprinkles add sweetness, while making the granola fun and festive. You don't have to include them, but they are one of the key components in demonstrating that this granola is birthday cake flavored.
- Salt - salt helps in balancing the sweetness. It prevents the flavor from falling flat without a salty taste.
📓 Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Cover a large sheet pan with parchment paper to prevent the granola from sticking.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together honey, melted coconut oil, vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt.
3. Add oats, sliced almonds, and coconut to the bowl. Mix to fully coat in the honey and coconut oil mixture.
4. Spread the mixture onto the pan and pat it down with your hands so it lays flat in a single layer.
5. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. If the granola starts to turn dark brown, remove it from the oven before the 30 minute mark.
6. Remove the sheet pan from the oven and add white chocolate chips over top. As the chips start to melt, add the rainbow sprinkles.
7. Allow vanilla almond birthday cake granola to cool completely (about an hour) before storing it in an airtight container. It will get crunchier and stick together as it cools.
⁉️ Substitutions and Alterations
Instead of almonds: you can substitute with any of your favorite nuts. You will want to make sure they are unsalted and raw. This will ensure that they don't burn and the flavor remains fairly similar. Additionally, you'll want to chop them so they're easy to bite into.
Instead of coconut: you can simply leave out the coconut or substitute it with an additional nut, seed, or grain.
Instead of coconut oil: you can use any neutral-flavored oil, such as olive oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, or grapeseed oil.
Instead of honey: you can use any of your favorite sweeteners, such as maple syrup, agave, or brown sugar.
Instead of almond extract: you can choose to leave out the almond extract. Though, you may lose some of the birthday cake flavor. You can also substitute it with additional vanilla extract.
Instead of white chocolate chips: you can use milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or caramel chips.
❄️ How to Store
To store: Allow the crunchy birthday cake granola to cool completely for at least 1 hour, once removed from the oven, before scooping it into an airtight jar or container. Store in a cool, dry spot up to 6 months (not in the refrigerator!)
To freeze: Allow the granola to cool completely for at least 1 hour, once removed from the oven, before scooping it into an airtight jar, bag, or container. Store in the freezer for 3 to 6 months.
🔍 FAQs
If the granola didn't turn out crunchy, it's possible that your measurements are off. If there are too many liquid ingredients, and not enough dry ingredients, the granola may come out soggy.
Additionally, it may need longer time in the oven. Cook it at a low temperature for a longer amount of time so that it has ample time to dry out.
Granola can be incredibly versatile and made of many different ingredients. At it's base, it is often made of oats, nuts, seeds, and dried fruit.
Other variations may include spices (such as cinnamon, turmeric, or pumpkin pie spice) like my chunky apple cinnamon granola, chocolate, coconut, muesli or puffed quinoa, extracts (such as peppermint, lemon, or almond), and nut butters (such as peanut, almond, or cashew).
Birthday cake granola is a sweet granola with a vanilla and almond flavor. It is made to resemble the taste of a yellow cake with vanilla frosting.
💭 One More Tip
If you're wondering, "what's the secret to perfect granola?" Then, I'd have to say it's all in the baking process.
The key to baking granola is remembering to keep it low and slow! Keep your oven at 300 degrees F or lower to prevent burning the granola before it becomes crisp.
You'll also want to bake it for a while to help dry it out, making it sticky, yet crunchy.
Depending on what's in your granola, you'll need about 30 minutes in the oven for the nuts, seeds, and oats to toast, while the oils, sugars, and other mix-ins dry and clump together.
Just make sure to stir every 10 minutes to brown it evenly, while also making sure none of it is burning. For the best granola, it's always important to be patient!
🍴 Related Recipes
Share your cooking with me! If you make this recipe, I'd love to know! Tag @yourhomemadehealthy on Instagram or leave a comment with a rating and some feedback at the bottom of this page!
Crunchy Vanilla Almond Birthday Cake Granola
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup honey or maple syrup
- 4 tablespoon coconut oil melted
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- a pinch of kosher salt
- 2 cups old fashioned oats (NOT quick oats)
- ½ cup sliced unsalted almonds
- ½ cup unsweetened coconut
- 2 tablespoon white chocolate chips
- 3 to 4 tablespoon rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Cover a large sheet pan with parchment paper to prevent the granola from sticking.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together honey, melted coconut oil, vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt.
- Add oats, sliced almonds, and coconut to the bowl. Mix to fully coat in the honey and coconut oil mixture.
- Spread the mixture onto the pan and pat it down with your hands so it lays flat in a single layer.
- Place the pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. If the granola starts to turn dark brown, remove it from the oven before the 30 minute mark.
- Remove the sheet pan from the oven and add white chocolate chips over top. As the chips start to melt, add the rainbow sprinkles.
- Allow vanilla almond birthday cake granola to cool completely (about an hour) before storing it in an airtight container. It will get crunchier and stick together as it cools.
Storage
- To store: Allow the crunchy birthday cake granola to cool completely for at least 1 hour, once removed from the oven, before scooping it into an airtight jar or container. Store in a cool, dry spot up to 6 months (not in the refrigerator!)To freeze: Allow the granola to cool completely for at least 1 hour, once removed from the oven, before scooping it into an airtight jar, bag, or container. Store in the freezer for 3 to 6 months.
Notes
- Make sure to use old fashioned oats, instead of instant, quick, or steel-cut.
- Choose rainbow sprinkles that are made from natural ingredients, instead of artificial flavors and dyes. You can also use any kind of sprinkle, from jimmies (the long shapes) to quins (the flat, round shapes), but be aware that nonpariels (the small, hard, round ball shapes) may bleed their dye if the white chocolate is too wet and melted.
- See above post for any substitutions or alterations.
Nutrition
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Stacy says
My kids loved this! Such a fun treat for them.
Alana Lieberman says
Happy to hear 🙂 It's a great treat for them now that school is back in session!