Thursday, February 28, 2013

Homemade Granola



Well the muffin recipe turned out to be pretty popular, so I'm going to share another recipe! This is another breakfast and snack staple in our house. This could easily be gluten-free if you buy gluten-free oats.

Homemade Granola:

3 1/2 Tb vegetable oil (or any oil you prefer...while I almost always cook with olive oil, I don't think you could sub that here)
1/4 C brown sugar
1/4 C honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix these in a small bowl and set aside.

In a larger bowl, combine:

2 C oats (I use old fashioned, but quick cooking would probably be fine too)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt

Add the wet ingredients to the large bowl with the oats. The best way to combine these is to use your hands. So get in there and get messy....


I squeeze everything together with my hands to make sure all the oats are covered in the sugary-honey goodness.

Then spread everything out on a lined baking sheet. I use my Silpat for this. It was a gift from my mother in law one Christmas and I use it ALL the time.


Bake at 325 degrees for 12 minutes. Take the pan out, stir the granola up a bit, and add any nuts you want here. I add about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of almonds, depending on how heavy Lucy's sprinkling hand is that day. Then put the pan back in the oven for another 10-12 minutes. Watch it closely during the last few minutes, because my oven tends to take longer than most.

Remove, and....here's the hardest part....let it cool completely. Don't touch it! I know, it's hard. Because by now your whole house will smell divine...but trust me, if you let it cool all the way it will get nice and crunchy and delicious.

After it's cooled, you can add dried fruit or chocolate chips or any other mix-ins you want. I don't usually add anything else.

Then devour.




I store it in a big tupperware container in the pantry and we munch on it all week or put it over yogurt for breakfast. YUM!

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