home made granola.

I love really good fresh granola. I make a huge batch a few times a year - it is never the same recipe twice, but I always write it down. I love variations in texture, crunch, sweet vs. salt. This batch is awesome - which is good, because I made 5 pounds! The good thing is that it is perfect with home made yogurt from our fresh milk - so we made some of that too! YUM.

Here is the recipe -- but remember that with granola you can substitute or tweak anything. Add what you have, what is in season, what you like. I use a variety of sugars so that there are many good nutrients added to the mix, but you can keep it simple and use just what you have!

It sounds like a lot of ingredients and expensive when using all organic. BUT, we calculated the cost for us was about 22-25 for ingredients, and it made 5 pounds. That is a lot less per pound than the organic bulk fruit & nut granola at our local coop - and it is fresh!

ingredients::
4 cups thick steel cut organic oats
1/4 cup ground flax
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 cup unsweetened organic shredded coconut
1 1/2 cups crushed raw walnuts
2 cups sunflower seeds (you can use raw, I used honey roasted)
1 cup organic oat cereal (per special request from my husband...)
1 Tbsp molasses
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp crushed sea salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup oil (I used organic sunflower)
8 oz can organic crushed pineapple (no sugar added)
1 cup hemp milk (or use water, rice, etc.)
2/3 cup honey
1/3 cup agave
1/4 cup brown sugar
10 oz. bag natural peanut butter chips
5 oz dried cranberries
5 oz dried cherries
3 oz raisins
1 cup organic/FT dried banana chips

I used organic ingredients...makes for better taste and quality.


directions::

Mix together all of the seeds, oats, coconut & nuts in a big bowl. In a separate bowl, combine oil, hemp milk, vanilla, honey, agave, pineapple, salt & molasses. Stir. Pour over the dry mix, and stir quickly to get all over everything evenly. Spread onto a non-stick cookie sheet. Sprinkle the cinnamon over the top. Place in a pre-heated 350º oven for 15 minutes. Carefully stir and turn over the mix. Bake again for another 15-20 minutes and stir again. Lower the oven temp to 225º and bake for 1.5 hours or so, until dry (but not burned or hard as a rock - keep an eye on it!). Let cool. Once cool, add in the dried fruits, banana chips and peanut butter chips. Stir gently. Store in airtight container!