Home Made Granola

In our ongoing effort to remove as many of the chemicals and preservatives from our diet as possible, while still being more frugal, I decided to make my own granola.  I collected a ton of recipes from all over the place and then pulled out what I had on hand and went to work.

3.5 cups of old fashioned oats
what was left of my package of coconut flakes (I could have used the whole package, or omitted it entirely, it’s really a matter of personal preference)
.75 cup slivered almonds
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
3.5 Tablespoons (more or less, I used what was left in the jar) honey
1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (we all know to use the good stuff, right?)

Preheat the oven to 375.  In a large bowl mix all the above ingredients.  Be careful not to break up the oats or nuts, but really make sure to combine well.

Spread the mixture onto an aluminum foil lined, rimmed baking sheet, making it as evenly layered as possible.

Put into oven and let it bake for 10 minutes.  Remove, and using a thin spatula, stir, turning the mixture over so that what’s on the bottom can bake.  Return to oven for an additional 10 minutes and remove again.  Stir and return in 10 minute intervals till you have the desired color.

I only did it for 20 minutes total and found that was dark enough for me, although I found recipes where the time varied quite a bit.  Here’s mine after 20 minutes:

Allow it to cool completely (I used a rack underneath for quicker cooling, but I don’t think it’s necessary.  Once the granola was cool, I put it in a big bowl and added dried blueberries, cherries, raspberries, and raisins as well as roasted, salted sunflower seeds.

You could really add anything you wanted to this.  And it made a huge, ziploc, 1 gallon freezer bag full.

Dried fruit is a little bit expensive, but in the end this was much cheaper than store bought granola and absolutely, tremendously better than the store bought stuff.  As an added bonus, it makes your house smell incredible!  We’ll never be able to eat the processed stuff, ever again.