You can eat your granola by the handful, in a bowl with milk or with yogurt and fruit.
By Kathryn McLean
If you like granola and don’t mind spending a few minutes in the kitchen, you should try making your own. One of the good things about making your own granola is you can decide what goes into the mix and what doesn’t.
For example, if you want it less sweet, you can cut down on the sugar. Same for salt: it’s not necessary so you can omit it or add a pinch. And you can customize with additional flavours like maple syrup or cinnamon.
Add as many dried fruits as you like. I usually use a mix of chopped dry apricots and raisins or currants. You can also try chopped dry apples or figs.
For nuts, I recommend chopped raw almonds, but cashews, pecans and walnuts are good, too. Try adding puffed quinoa or hemp hearts, or stirring in some chocolate chips once the batch is cooked and cooled.
Once your granola is ready, you can eat it by the handful, in a bowl with milk or with yogurt and fruit. I like to add a few spoonfuls of granola to the top of a bowl of hot oatmeal. The crunchy sweetness works great with the simple soft cereal.
Or try it mixed with a boxed dry cereal. Simple cereals work best. Rice Krispies or some type of flakes. Cheerios, Shreddies, Life, Chex or Crispex would be good, too.
So, how do you make homemade granola? Start by preheating the oven. Measure the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Leave the dry fruit aside to mix in later, after baking. Baking the dry fruit will only dry it out further making it rock hard.
Add the wet ingredients and stir everything. Then pour the mixture onto a baking sheet. Give the pan a gentle shake to keep everything in an even layer and pop it into the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, stir the granola, and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes.
It’s important to watch the last few minutes carefully and pull it out when you get the colour and toastiness you want. You’ll have to check the oven every minute for the last few minutes since granola can go from almost there to burnt very quickly.
You can double the recipe for a larger batch, but it will take longer to cook. Add an additional 10 minutes to the timer or divide the mixture between two pans to keep the bake time short.
My Guideline for Granola
Ingredients
1 cup dried fruit
2 cups large flake oats
½ cup raw nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans)
⅓ cup seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, flax, sesame)
¼ – ½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut (as you like)
¼ – ½ cup additional mix-ins, such as hemp hearts and ground flax
Pinch of salt
¼ cup honey or maple syrup
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
Directions
Preheat oven to 350℉.
Measure all the dry ingredients except for the dried fruit into a mixing bowl. Add the wet ingredients and stir everything.
Transfer the mixture onto a baking sheet and spread into an even layer. Bake for 10 minutes, stir the granola, and bake for another 5-10 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and stir in the dry fruit. Store in a sealed container once cooled.