Beyond The Suds
Easy Recipe for Great Homemade Granola
by Carrie
Making our own granola has been part of our family’s routine for years now, since our advent into healthier eating. It's easy-to-make, nutritious, versatile, and most of our family enjoys it (there's always that one child....). Every now and then we’ll change up the recipe, but for the most part we stick close to our standard routine: one batch with chocolate chips, one batch with dried fruit.
Fun Fact: When our oldest daughter was learning to speak she called it “grangola” and we still lovingly use the term today.Fun Fact #2: Give Darren a bowl of granola with milk and you're pretty much guaranteed a "yes" to whatever you ask. At least it works that way for me...
Great Granola
Ingredients:
- 12-16 cups oats (whole, old-fashioned)
- Chocolate chips (1/2 bag or more)
- Craisins (or other dried fruit)
- 1 cup canola or coconut oil
- 1 cup honey
- 2 T. vanilla
Optional:
- Flaxseed Meal, 1/4 cup
- Wheat Germ
- Sunflower Seeds, 3 T.
- Leftover boxed cereal (crumbs)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Place oats in a large bowl. Add in other dry ingredients, as desired (chocolate chips, dried fruit, flaxseed meal, sunflower seeds).
- Stir together.
- Pour canola oil (or coconut oil), honey, and vanilla over oat mixture. Stir thoroughly. (I find it easier to mix with my hands.)
- Spray large rectangular pan(s) liberally with non-stick spray. Spread a layer of granola in the pan, so that the bottom of pan is covered, but not too thick. (This size batch should be spread between 2-3 large pans, depending on the size of the pans.)
- Bake in 300 degree oven for 18-20 minutes.
- Remove and let cool. (See notes below about stirring to make crunchier vs. softer granola.)
- Use spatula to move granola to large container once cooled.
Notes:
- You can adjust these amounts proportionally if you don’t want such a large batch. But, I’d suggest making a good bit and sharing it around!
- If you want the granola crunchier, you can do a couple of different things. First, you can spread it thinner in the pan. Then you can cook it a bit longer than suggested. Finally, allow it to set in the pan to cool longer without stirring it.
- For softer granola, spread granola thicker in pan, don’t overcook, and once you remove granola from the oven, gently stir the mixture before it completely cools.
- Obviously, you can experiment with the “add-ins”. The younger children in our home prefer just the chocolate chips, but sneaking in the flaxseed meal and wheat germ can make the combo more nutritious.
- Our family prefers eating this granola in a bowl of milk (like cereal).
Do you have a favorite recipe that's easy, delicious, and nutritious?
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