Classic Granola

Let's face it, store bought granola can be down right expensive and each box has about 1/4 the amount of a standard box of cereal.  Thanks to this delicious and easily customized recipe from my wonderful friend Margaret and a need to save some money with my husband and I both being in school, I have vowed to never buy granola again.  

I have tried a variety of homemade granola recipes:  pumpkin granola in the fall, cranberry lemon granola, tropical granola and the like, but this recipe is the one I come back to time and again.  It is terribly easy to make and you can add some different spices to switch things up from time to time.

Classic Granola

Ingredients:

 - 8C Rolled Oats

- 2 C Nuts, your favorite kind, sliced or chopped

- 2 C Puffed Cereal (I get the regular 7 grain Kashi Puffs, my friend uses puffed millet)

- 1 1/2 C Brown Sugar

- 1/2 C Water

- 1t Salt

Ideas for Added Ingredients to Make it Your Own:

-  Once you make the syrup with the brown sugar and water, jazz it up with some ingredients such as honey, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.

- When mixing together the dry ingredients add in some dried fruit, coconut, chia seeds, flaxseeds, wheat bran, more nuts, pumpkin seeds, etc.  The last batch I made I added honey, cinnamon and nutmeg to the syrup and added some chia seeds and ground wheat bran to the dry ingredients and it tastes yummy!!

Directions: 
1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.
2. Mix together the dry ingredients in large bowl (and add any of your personal dry additions)
3. Mix together the brown sugar and water in microwave safe dish and microwave for 2-5 minutes, until sugar is melted and you are left with a syrup.
4. Add salt to the syrup
5. Mix in any of your own personal touches to the syrup
6. Pour syrup over the dry ingredients and mix until oats are well coated with your sugar goodness
7.  Spread oats on two cookie sheets and place in preheated oven.  At this point I always find it necessary to sample some of my raw concoction.  You know, poison control.
8.  Bake for 45-60 minutes*, remove from oven and loosen with spatula while still warm.  *Note: I usually swap the two trays half way through cooking time for more even cooking.  I also err on the lower length of cooking to avoid browning the oats toooo much.  I find even though the oats may still feel wet after 45 minutes, they dry out quickly out as they cool.

Store in an airtight container and enjoy with milk, yogurt or by the handful whenever you are bored and find yourself staring into your fridge / pantry because you don't know what else to do with yourself.  Just go crazy!!  It is hard to mess this recipe up.  The only time I had issues with it was when I used nuts that may have been a bit old giving it a stale flavor, and also when I baked it in an oven I had never used before, resulting in burned granola (but delicious never the less)!

Oh Granola, how you please my soul

Each morning you smile up at me from my bowl

Your sweet salty crunch with each precious bite

Makes my loving taste buds want to take flight

In the afternoon, you make a healthy treat

So to anyone that may actually read my blog...

Bon Appetit!!
 
....YES, it is that good...so I wrote a poem about it.