I could eat granola all day long. For breakfast, I mix it with other, less sweet cereals. At lunch, yogurt with fresh fruit is so much better with a bit of granola topping. At night, a scoop of ice cream with a sprinkle of granola and a dollop of chocolate or caramel sauce is my idea of a divine dessert.
Granola is so easy to make, it's almost a crime to buy it ready-made. Although it may not be less expensive than store-bought, you can customize the homemade version and it tastes so much fresher. Besides, it's a great way to use up odds and ends of nuts and seeds.
This recipe does not include raisins or other dried fruit. You can certainly add dried fruit; if you do so, add it after baking the granola, while it cools. I prefer not to because moisture from the dried fruit tends to soften the cereal if they sit together, and for some purposes (e.g. on ice cream), I prefer granola without dried fruit. Anyway, you can always add dried fruit when you eat or serve the granola.
Granola
Servings - about 6½ cups / 2 lbs Cost - $12.30 for batch / $6.15 per pound
Ingredients
- 3 cups old fashioned (not quick) oats
- 2 cups nuts (I used a mix of cashews, pecans, slivered almonds and cashews)
- ¾ cup shredded (sweetened) coconut
- ¼ cup sesame seeds
- ½ cup (raw) sunflower seeds
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup oil (canola, safflower or similar, but not olive or other oil with strong taste)
Equipment
- 1 large bowl
- measuring cup (for liquids)
- measuring cups (for solids)
- measuring spoons
- small saucepan
- large spoon
- pancake turner or other implement for stirring the granola while it is baking
- 2 large cookies sheets with low sides
Preparation
For step-by-step directions (including pictures), click here.