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Once I tasted the crunchiness of this high-calorie granola recipe, I knew my usual bowl of oats was in danger.
And bonus, this homemade granola is cheaper and healthier than the ones found in stores. For context, 95% of the bestselling granolas fail to respect healthy dietary guidelines, according to our research on granola products.
This recipe feels like a breath of fresh air. It's an effective and delicious breakfast for anyone struggling to eat enough calories. Also, our granola is excellent for building muscle, hitting high energy needs, or increasing performance.
If we think about it, granola bowls are the upgraded version of the classic cereal and milk breakfast. Sorry if we sound bold, but if you don't know how to make a nutritious bowl of granola, your collection of high-calorie breakfasts is outdated.
Fortunately, you're on the brink of learning how to make a granola that will turn bulking up into a breeze.
Using my nutritionist knowledge and my experience in combining all kinds of high-calorie foods, I created a granola recipe that's arguably the best for building muscle. It meets all these characteristics:
Without further ado, let's start making granola.
For this granola recipe, you'll need the following kitchen equipment:
To make the granola, you'll need the following ingredients:
First, granola can include many ingredients, from grains, nuts, and seeds to fats, sweeteners, and fruits. And don't forget about add-ins, like dairy, protein powder, and chocolate.
The core ingredient of our recipe is oats, a common grain choice for granola. We chose to add almonds, peanut butter, and sunflower seeds because they are generally higher in proteins and top standalone choices in the nuts and seeds market.
As a fat, we went for olive oil. It brings healthy unsaturated fats while leveraging the total calories. As sweeteners, we picked natural ones: honey and golden raisins. Did you know that raisins count among the fruits with the most calories?
For a better taste, we added cocoa powder, vanilla extract, turmeric, cinnamon, and salt.
To add protein and vitamin A to the granola, we paired it with nonfat Greek yogurt.
In addition, we added strawberries into the mix for their vitamin C content and deliciousness.
Below are the step-by-step instructions for making our high-calorie granola recipe.
While chopping the almonds, keep the first third from the tip of the knife's blade on the cutting board. This way, you'll prevent your almonds from jumping all over. Target each large piece of almond you spot. Once you're done cutting, inspect the almonds to see if you find any larger pieces.
Into a large bowl, add these ingredients:
When it comes to the vanilla extract, feel free to add it over the dry ingredients or during the next step.
Grab your saucepan and put it on the stove on low heat. Pour the honey in and wait until it boils. Then, add olive oil and vanilla extract (if you didn't add it among the dry ingredients). Stir the resulting mixture well and get the saucepan off the stove.
Pour the wet mixture in the saucepan over the dry ingredients you added in the bowl. Using a wooden spoon, mix everything well until the composition feels sticky. Don't rush. We want that wet mixture to coat those dry ingredients, acting like a thin glue.
Line your baking sheet with parchment paper. Over the paper, spread the granola found in the bowl. Try to crowd the composition a little bit, so it can form small clumps.
Place the baking sheet a third from the top of the oven. Let the granola bake for about 20 minutes at 350 F or 180 °C (pre-heated oven).
Check the granola every 7-8 minutes and stir it so it toasts evenly. In addition, press the granola with the back of a wooden spoon to help it form more clumps.
The last step before serving is to pull the granola out of the oven and let it cool for around 30 minutes. Also, now it's the time to sprinkle the golden raisins.
Put 3.5 oz (100 g) of granola in a bowl. Over it, add 10.6 oz (300 g) of nonfat Greek yogurt and one medium-to-large strawberry.
In terms of taste, the granola has a crunchy and nutty flavor with a cinnamon finish. The raisins and the strawberries provide short bursts of fruity delight. Meanwhile, the yogurt makes the dish easier to chew and more delicious.
You can store the granola in a lidded jar, a vacuum-sealed bag, or an airtight container.
Our high-calorie granola recipe yields 6 servings. One serving contains:
Below are the nutrition facts for one serving.
| Serving size | 415 g |
| Calories | 600 |
| Proteins | 43 g |
| Carbohydrates | 68 g |
| Fiber | 10 g |
| Added sugars | 9 g |
| Fats | 20 g |
| Saturated fats | 3 g |
| Unsaturated fats | 17 g |
Vitamins: A, E, C, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B8, B9, B12.
Minerals: calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, zinc, iodine, selenium, copper, manganese, chromium, molybdenum, boron.
Other compounds: choline and flavonoids.
Our high-calorie protein granola can bring many health benefits. Let's explore some of them.
Here are the reasons why our granola recipe helps you gain muscle:
Let's delve deeper into each of the characteristics above.
Since our protein granola is high-calorie, it will help you keep a caloric surplus.
After all, the recipe delivers 600 calories/serving, about a third of a 2000-calorie diet. This is because our protein granola contains many good sources of calories.
For example, almonds and peanut butter count among the high-calorie nuts and nut butters. Also, sunflower seeds, oats, raisins, and olive oil count among the list of high-calorie foods.
If you don't know what caloric surplus means, know it's eating more calories than you consume. And it's essential for building muscle.
The International Society of Sports Nutrition has the same position. In 2017, after reviewing over 140 scientific articles, they concluded that people who want to build muscle efficiently should follow diets that get them into a "sustained caloric surplus."
You can eat high-calorie granola when cutting too. In this case, you'll need to make sure you stay on a caloric deficit.
Besides bringing calories, this granola recipe is high in proteins. And since it's also rich in carbs, our granola counts among the best pre-workout meals for muscle gain.
Moreover, because one serving has 43 g of protein, it will help you maximize your muscle-building efforts.
How do we know that?
Trying to find out how much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building, researchers arrived at the following conclusion.
"To maximize anabolism one should consume protein at a target intake of 0.4 g/kg/meal across a minimum of four meals in order to reach a minimum of 1.6 g/kg/day. Using the upper daily intake of 2.2 g/kg/day reported in the literature spread out over the same four meals would necessitate a maximum of 0.55 g/kg/meal," Brad Schoenfeld and Alan Aragon concluded in 2018.
For example, to maximize muscle-building, a 176 lbs (80 kg) individual needs 32-44 g of protein from one meal. Do you remember how much protein our granola recipe has? 43 g.
Inch-perfect!
One of the vitamins in our granola that impacts muscle growth is vitamin B12. Thanks for your B12, nonfat Greek yogurt.
Don't take our word for it. Here is scientific proof published in the Advances in Nutrition journal. Researcher Lindsay Allen states that one of B12's roles is to restore methionine, an amino acid used in protein synthesis.
Besides B12, another compound that improves muscle growth is choline. It's present in our granola because of the oats and the nonfat Greek yogurt.
The researchers behind a 2020 review of scientific studies that examined choline highlighted the compound's contribution to muscle growth and physical performance.
Our protein granola recipe fights muscle cramps and reduces muscle damage during exercise. Thus, performance increases. The granola does this because it contains peanut butter and olive oil, which have vitamin E.
A 2013 Nephro-Urology Monthly study of 20 patients with renal disease showed Vitamin E significantly reduces muscle cramps.
Moreover, a 2009 study of 21 participants published in The Journal of Physiological Sciences reached interesting results. The researchers concluded that vitamin E supplementation protects against oxidative stress and muscle damage.
More recently, a 2022 review published in Nutrients showed that even a low dose of vitamin E could prevent "exercise-induced muscle damage."
Another mineral you get from consuming our granola recipe is zinc. And guess what? Oats, the core ingredient of our recipe, are a good source of zinc.
According to a 2020 Redox Biology review, zinc helps form new muscular cells and regenerate depleted muscle tissues.
No matter when you eat it, our high-calorie protein granola energize you for many hours. It's rich in complex carbs, low in added sugars, and abundant in vitamins and minerals that help your body produce energy.
The American Heart Association backs this up. Complex carbohydrates will give you energy for a longer period than simple carbs, like the ones found in white bread or candies.
Fortunately, our protein granola is full of ingredients that contain complex carbs:
The only added sugar in our granola comes from honey. Since the sugar in honey makes up only 6.33% of the recipe's total calories, it respects the recommendation in the 2020-2025 edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
According to the DGA, the calories we get from the added sugar in our diet should not exceed 10% of our daily calories.
Besides carbohydrates, our granola contains compounds that help the body get and use the energy found in foods:
Let's look at some proof regarding the above micronutrients' roles.
A 2020 scientific review of B vitamins, vitamin C, iron, magnesium, and zinc is titled "vitamins and minerals for energy, fatigue, and cognition."
Sources of B vitamins in our protein granola:
The only ingredient that is a good source of vitamin C in our recipe is the strawberries.
As for magnesium, oats and peanut butter contain plenty of it.
Some ingredients rich in iron found in our recipe are peanut butter and cocoa powder.
When it comes to phosphorus, the National Institutes of Health describes it as a component of "the body's key energy source, adenosine triphosphate (ATP)."
The best source of phosphorus in our granola is the nonfat Greek yogurt.
The same NIH states that copper is involved in energy production. In our recipe, sunflower seeds, peanut butter, and cocoa powder bring most of it.
As for manganese, a 2015 article reviewed manganese's effects on health. The research states that the mineral plays a role in significant physiological processes, including energy metabolism. Most of the manganese in our protein granola comes from oats.
Our granola also contains chromium, which "might play a role in carbohydrate, lipid, and protein metabolism," according to the NIH. In our granola, chromium comes from peanut butter.
Besides, a 2022 study on 138 soccer players states from its beginning that molybdenum plays an important role in adapting our bodies to physical training. Oats and peanut butter bring molybdenum to our granola.
Our high-calorie granola recipe strengthens your bones and connective tissues because it contains calcium, copper, manganese, boron, and vitamin C.
A 2012 review of the essential nutrients for bone health agrees. It found that calcium, copper, manganese, boron, and vitamin C are commonly used to improve bone health.
You can bake the granola on a Sunday and have servings for the week ahead.
Another great thing about choosing our granola? You can eat one serving of our high-calorie granola recipe in about 5 minutes.
To follow our high-calorie protein granola recipe in a compressed format, use the summary below.
Now, if you don't have time to have granola in the morning, try our high-calorie granola bars. You can take them everywhere!
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