Homemade Granola

I'm very fond of granola.  Always have been.  A perfect breakfast bowl for me is granola with milk and some fresh fruit.  When we were in Ireland last year, I pretty much devoured George's homemade muesli every morning; I always meant to ask for the recipe but kept forgetting.

I'm not sure why it never occurred to me to make my own granola:  there are plenty of recipes out there and it's surprisingly easy.  I suppose it was one of those things I simply purchased and never considered making from scratch.  I've been buying a particular blend of granola for a while, but with the recent price increases in food, I just can't justify $5.00 a pound for what are essentially rolled oats, dried fruit, nuts and sweeteners. 

I found an easy recipe that I liked on Myra Goodman's site.  She's one of the co-founders of Earthbound Farms Organics and has written a book, Foods to Live By, which features her Maple Almond Granola recipe.  Her recipe calls for seven ingredients and she has video instructions available online as well.  Having particular preferences, I modified some ingredients to make it wholly my own -- you can too. 

Myra's been kind enough to offer me an extra cookbook to give away -- if you'd like your own copy of Foods to Live By, send me an email [ablithepalate (AT) gmail (DOT) com] with your address by November 20 and I'll pick a recipient at random.

Homemade Granola

Granola recipes are aching to be customized to your particular preferences; these are the basic instructions, feel free to substitute the nuts and fruits with whatever you prefer.  I'm planning on using pistachios, hazelnuts and other interesting combinations next...

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together 4 cups of rolled oats, 1 cup of almonds, 2 T dark brown sugar and 1 t nutmeg.  Add in 3/4 cup of pure maple syrup and 3 T of canola oil.  Stir until the oats and almonds are coated.  Spread the granola mixture onto a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour until the oats are golden brown.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Stir in raisins or other dried fruit.

Toss the granola and store in an airtight container to maintain the crunch (cuz stale granola is just AWFUL).

Comments

[beastmomma]

that sounds great. I am sending you my information now!

[Merry]

I also thought it would be difficult to make. I am going to use honey instead of the maple syrup.