Recipe: Sweet and Crunchy Granola

I enjoy eating granola.  I don't eat it all the time, but from time to time I like to snack on it.  Besides eating it out of hand, my next favorite thing to do with granola is to add it to my yogurt with some fresh fruits.

I've made my own granola now for over a year now.  I originally made it for a secret Santa gift where I needed to give a present each day of the work week, of course the person I got wrote almost nothing that was within the budget except granola.  What I ended up doing was make a base granola, then added different things to it each day :).  First day he got it plain, the next dried berries, another day dried fruits, another extra nuts, and the last day chocolates.  He said his favorite was plain, and I tend to agree with him.

The recipe I will feature will be just the base recipe, but even there I will have optional items.  It simply depends on your tastes, or on what you have in your kitchen.

I did base this recipe on Alton Brown's granola recipe, but I have added more to it, and changed around a few things.  


Oatmeal Recipe:


Dry Team 

• 3 cups of rolled oats
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup cashews
• 3/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom (optional)
  *all nuts and seeds can be changed out for other nuts and seeds depending on your tastes, any allergies, or cost.  If they are big, just be sure to chop them up into manageable pieces.  You can also totally remove them, but replace them with something else, maybe more rolled oats or dried coconut.

Wet Team

• 1/4 cup maple syrup (I've also tried honey, which worked out fine)
• 1/4 cup oil

Mix-in Options (approximately 1 cup total of one or more of the following, or more if you like!)

• Dried Fruits (raisins, chopped prunes, chopped dried apricots, dried cranberries, dried strawberries, dried blueberries, etc.)
• Nuts (walnuts, pecans, pistachios, peanuts, etc.)
• Chocolate (chips or chunks, white, milk, or dark)

Step by Step Action

1. Set the oven to 250 degrees F, and prepare 2 half sheet pans (I usually line them with foil so it's easy to move around)
2. Combine all of the dry team together and mix together well (if you're adding any extra nuts, I would do so at this point)
3. Combine all of the wet team together and mix together well also.
4. You guessed what comes next, combine both the dry and wet team together, and thoroughly mix them together.
5. Evenly distribute them between the two sheet pans, and place in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Every 15-20 minutes stir the mixture until golden brown and delicious.
6. If you're adding dried fruit or chocolate to your mix I would suggest to wait until it is fully cooled before doing so.

Very simple, it just needs a little babysitting while it's in the oven.  I set a timer to go off every 15 minutes so I don't accidentally forget and burn it.

This is how it looks plain, in all of it's crunchy golden deliciousness.

I also set aside some for my mom and mother-in-law with dried fruits added.  In this mix has dried cranberries, golden raisins, and chopped up apricots.

I love to play around with recipes, and this one tends to change depending what's on hand and what's my mood.  In the morning I'll be sure to have some granola with yogurt as part of my breakfast :).