Granola

Homemade granola, right out of the oven!

I love granola. I eat it with low-fat Greek yogurt and seasonal (or frozen) fruit for brunch at my desk and snack on it in the afternoon. I top ice cream and sorbet with it for dessert. Sometimes, I just eat it by the handful. I usually buy my granola at the Union Square Farmers Market. Cooks Farm Orchard sells a bag with rolled oats, almonds, coconut, wheat germ, maple syrup, cranberries, sesame seeds, and oil that is pretty tasty. When I'm in NY visiting my family, I pick up at least a bag of Platte Clove Naturals Granola at the Kingston Farmers Market. My favorite is their maple ginger with cranberries. So good!

Granola from the farmers market is usually around $6 for a small bag and well, I think I can probably do it cheaper and better. So this morning, I turned to page 260 of Clean Food, one of my favorite cookbooks, and adapted Terry Walters' Maple Nut Granola recipe. The only ingredient I didn't have was coconut, so I added some other ingredients and hoped for the best! Here's what I did and the end result:

Gather the following ingredients:

The Line-Up

3 cups Rolled Oats (I always have some of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Rolled Oats in the pantry)
1 cup Quaker Oats (recipe called for 4 cups Rolled Oats, but I ran out at cup 3. Quaker's are processed into smaller pieces for faster cooking. not ideal for a granola recipe, but it'll do)
2 cups Crispy Brown Rice Cereal
1 cup Sunflower Seeds (toasted)
1 cup Sliced Almonds
1/2 Chopped Pecans
3/4 cup Raisins
1/2 cup Craisins
1/2 cup Walnuts
1/4 cup Sesame seeds (not called for in recipe, but I added anyway)
1/4 cup wheat germ (again, not called for, but is some of the granola I purchase)
1/4 cup flax seeds (not called for either, but why not?)
2 tablespoons Cinnamon
2 teaspoons Powdered Ginger (not called for, but I love ginger)
3/4 cup Canola Oil
3/4 cup Maple Syrup
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract (recipe called for almond extract, but I didn't have any and like vanilla better anyway)

Wet: Canola Oil, Maple Syrup, Extract. Dry: Oats, Nuts, Seeds, Spices, etc.

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Wisk the wet ingredients together in a small bowl.

Pour Wet Ingredients Over Dry Ingredients

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir well to coat the dry stuff with the wet stuff.

Stir well to coat all the dry ingredients well!

Pour into a 9x13 pyrex. Spread with the back of a spoon to even out the top.

Almost Ready for the Oven

Press the raisins (and dried cranberries) through the surface into the mixture.

Hide the raisins and craisins!

Bake at 250 for 60 minutes or until golden.
Warning: This will make your house smell delicious! Make sure you have someone to share this with or bring some to work, because this recipe yields about 10 cups. I'll be making it weekly and trying different variations. What do you suggest I put in my next batch of granola?

Eat a few spoonfuls, let it cool, and spoon into mason jars to store. Should keep in a cool dry place for a week or two. Amazing. Thanks again, Terry!


This post was shared on The Healthy Home Economist's Monday Mania on 8-22-11