The Oven Mistake To Avoid When Baking Granola

When you want a tasty treat that is also on the healthy side, you may consider reaching for your favorite bag of granola. But is granola really that healthy for you? According to Forbes, homemade granola is healthier than buying it from a store, because store-bought granola is full of sugar, whereas homemade granola is often made with fresh sweeteners, like honey, making it healthier. If you want to snack on some crunchy granola, you really should try making it yourself.

There are so many wonderful granola recipes to choose from, but if you want to make the best homemade granola, there are some things you should — and should not — do when it comes to baking it. You may think that cooking granola is as simple as whipping up a recipe and popping it in the oven, but you'd be wrong. So, what is the number one oven mistake you need to avoid when baking granola?

According to Dawn Perry, digital food editor at Bon Appétit, the best thing you can do when it comes to cooking granola is to keep the temperature low and cook it slowly to ensure that you get toasty, dry, (but not burnt), granola. To get that perfect golden-brown color for your granola, keep your oven between 300 and 350 degrees. If you turn up the temp, you could burn part of the granola while other parts aren't even done cooking, resulting in uneven and inedible granola.

Of course, this isn't the only baking tip to follow when you are making granola at home. You need a good granola recipe and take your time to bake the ingredients in the proper order. For example, if you add chocolate or dried fruit to the mix before baking, they will burn in the oven, ruining the whole batch of granola. It's best to add things like that after the granola has baked.

Another tip for baking granola is to use parchment paper on your baking dish, according to Valerie Bertinelli, to ensure that your granola doesn't stick as it cooks (per Food Network). You should spread the mixture evenly on your baking dish, as well. Remember — it doesn't matter what temperature you bake the granola at if the mixture isn't placed in the oven the right way. If you don't put the granola on the baking dish evenly, it will burn in spots where it's too thin and won't dry out in spots where it's too thick. Keeping the mixture even helps the granola to cook properly.

Finally, the cooking time is as important as the oven's temperature. Cook times will vary based on the recipe, but most granola will bake for 30 minutes at 300 degrees. Now that you know some basic oven rules for properly baking homemade granola, you can make this pantry staple for yourself.