Banana Bread Granola

Homemade banana bread granola is studded with nuts, coconut, chocolate chips and almond butter! It's naturally vegan and gluten and perfect for topping smoothie bowls, yogurt, cereal, or just for eating straight out of the jar.

There's nothing more satisfying than making homemade granola. It's significantly cheaper than buying a bag of good quality stuff. And, it almost always tastes way better!

I've definitely never had a store-bought granola that tastes as good as this banana bread granola. Granted, the chocolate chips make it taste more like a glorified dessert, but I'm fine with that. Everyone needs a little chocolate for breakfast.

If you've never made homemade granola, now's the time to start experimenting. Once you give this homemade banana granola a try, here are a few more of our favorites:

• Best Classic Gluten Free Granola
• Pumpkin Spice Granola
• Salted Caramel Granola
• Chocolate Hazelnut Raspberry Granola

If you don't eat it all straight out of the jar by the spoonful, save some for these smoothie bowls. I also love it on top of this vanilla chia pudding, this pumpkin oatmeal (not just for fall!), or these overnight oats. Granola also makes for a fun topping for waffles, especially with the melty chocolate chips!

How to make Banana Bread Granola

The key to delicious homemade banana bread granola is cooking it at a relatively low heat so it has time to dry out and get crunchy without burning.

This granola cooks at 325˚F for about 45 minutes. The toasted coconut flakes and chocolate chips get added in once the granola is completely cooled.

Banana bread granola ingredients

There are two important components to this granola: the wet mixture and the dry mixture.

Wet ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas: it's super important that the bananas are actually ripe. Otherwise, they won't have the right texture for blending and won't add enough moisture.
• Maple syrup: our sweetener of choice! Make sure it's the real deal, not pancake syrup.
• Creamy almond butter: any variety will do, but we tend to use unsweetened.
• Coconut oil: melt before adding to the blender. It only takes about 30 seconds in the microwave.
• Vanilla extract
• Cinnamon and salt: not usually counted in the wet ingredients, but we add them in to evenly incorporate.

Add all of the wet ingredients to a high speed blender and blend until creamy and smooth. So easy!

Dry ingredients:

• Whole rolled oats: if you have Celiac disease or a severe gluten intolerance, be sure to use certified gluten free oats.
• Chopped walnuts and pecans: opt for raw, unsalted walnuts and pecans.
• Desiccated coconut flakes: opt for untoasted flakes. We'll be adding in toasted coconut later on.

Stir it all together in a big mixing bowl, then pour in wet ingredients and stir well to incorporate. Once the granola is baked and cooled, you'll add in a handful of chocolate chips and toasted coconut flakes to finish everything off!

How to store Banana Bread Granola

For best results, we suggest storing your granola in an airtight jar. It's the best way to retain crunchiness without it going stale. Plastic bags often don't get completely sealed (especially if you have kids in the house!).

This banana bread granola will last for up to a few weeks (even months!) in a cool, dark pantry. We made a few batches early in March and just finished it up. The last handful was just as good as the first!

It's also important to wait to store the granola until it's completely cooled on the baking sheets. If you transfer it to a jar too quickly, the steam will make the granola a bit soggy and it will lose its crunch.

Homemade granola also makes for a wonderful DIY gift for a friend, family member, host/hostess, etc. Package it up in a nice jar, tie it up with some ribbon and a personalized note. Not sure about you, but I would be SO happy to receive a jar!

More vegan breakfast recipes

• Smoothie Bowl Breakfast Bar
• Maple Vanilla Chia Pudding
• Spicy Breakfast Potato Tacos (Vegan)
• Scrambled Tofu and Avocado Breakfast Sandwich
• How to make Scrambled Tofu

If you make this banana bread granola recipe, we’d love for you to leave a comment and rating below! We also love to see your creations on Instagram – tag us at @crowded_kitchen so we can see what you’ve been cooking.

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