1/15/14

Granola Grinder

I don't know why I've never made granola before now.  I guess I just didn't have a tried and true recipe and it never occurred to me to find one.  Maybe I'm just not "crunchy" enough.

We go through a lot of store bought cereal in our house...which translates to a lot of money spent.  Only two of my children and myself enjoy oatmeal and the rest despise it...so the suggestion of porridge for everyone is generally met with groans (or gagging).

We also go through a ton of baking.  Homemade cookies, loaves, and muffins are lucky to last a couple days.

 Breakfasts, snacks, lunch box treats, it's hard to keep the supply up to the demand.  I really needed something that I could whip up in a couple minutes, with minimal effort and mess...but that will actually keep kids satisfied, and provide some nutrition.  We rarely snack on store bought goodies, cookies, or crackers which would be convenient...but once again too much money, too much packaging, and too much unhealthy junk.

Along came a easy, yummy, fast, granola recipe that fills up hungry tummies and has some decent nutritional value.

I've been tweaking the recipe and trying all kinds of new things.  So here it is, my slightly customized granola recipe, that you can feel free to further customize to your tastes. As long as you have the oat/syrup base you can try adding all kinds of other morsels of goodness.

Homemade Granola Cereal:

4 tbsp vegi oil (or coconut oil works great too)
3/4 cup corn syrup (or honey)...I also like to add an extra drizzle of maple syrup
4 cups oats
1/4 pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup almonds
1/4 cup coconut
1/4 cup ground flax

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix oats, seeds, flax, coconut, and nuts into a bowl (everything but the dried fruits).  Heat the oil and corn syrup (or honey) in a saucepan over low heat.  Pour syrup over the oat mixture and mix together well.  Place the mixture onto a baking sheet and spread it out.  Bake it in the oven for about 8-10 minutes, or until it turns a golden brown.  Let the mixture cool for a couple minutes and then pour it back into the bowl.  Add the dried fruit/ and raisins to the mixture and stir well.  After it's completely cool transfer into a storage container, jar, or bag.

Once you get the hang of it, it literally takes a few minutes to prepare.

It makes a great snack, or a hearty breakfast that actually sticks with you for a while.  I buy my oats in enormous bulk bags, so I have plenty on hand.   If you can find the other ingredients for a reasonable price (or bulk) this healthy, homemade treat is much cheaper than boxes full of store bought cereal...and you know exactly what's in it.



I'm planning on stocking up on this before our upcoming road trip to Mexico!!

p.s  two weeks left! (and way too much to get done before we hit the road)



Soli Deo Gloria,

3 comments:

Valen and Carol said...

Want mine?
4 cups old fashion oats
1 cup Roger's 9 grain cereal
1 cup bran
1/4 cup ground flax
1 cup coconut
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1 cup raisins or craisons
1/4 sunflower seeds
1 tsp. cinnamon
Sauce
1 cup butter or coconut oil
1 cup honey
3 TB milk
Melt and pour over mixture, spread onto 2 cookie sheet and bake in a 325 oven for 30 minutes until golden brown.

Marcy Payne said...

I love homemade granola but hardly any of my kids do. I make mine with mostly maple syrup or honey to cut down on Corn syrup but it makes it more expensive. I need to find big bags of oats. Which brand?

Carla said...

Thanks for the suggestions and sharing your own recipe! Cinnamon in it would be delicious. I've stopped using cinnamon for the most part because we have a child with cinnamon allergy...but I may have to make a separate batch for the rest of us to enjoy.