I love Granola, always have!  I only bought it rarely though, because its fattening and pricey.  Recently however I started feeling much less comfortable with the selection of cereal that I was offering to my children in the mornings, and wanted a better option. Plus I had a TON of oats in my food storage and no real plan for rotating them.  My sister Aubrey has been making her own granola for years and shared her recipe with me.  I don’t mess around with it much, so as is typical for my recipes, all of the credit goes to her.  Its SURPRISINGLY easy to make and every single member of my family adores it, including my 95 year old grandmother who eats it like candy.  So, without further Adieu,

Easy and Delicious Homemade Granola

 

6 cups oats

1 cup coconut- unsweetened or sweetened is fine- just preference

1-2 cups nuts chopped as finely as you prefer

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

 

1/2 cup oil

1 cup honey

 

Mix dry ingredients together- just in a bowl is fine

Mix honey and oil together and microwave on high for 2 minutes

Pour wet into dry while mixing slowly

 

Press into 2 large cookie sheets (spray first)

Bake for 22 minutes at 325 

After removing the granola…LEAVE IT ALONE– for at least 20 minutes.  This is the hardest part, because it smells so good!  But if you turn it, or stir it, or even pick at it- it will crumble and be flaky granola.  After its cool to the touch it should be finished.

 

I know the 22 minutes thing sounds odd, but its exactly the perfect amount of time for the granola to bake.  And I’m serious about letting it sit for 20 min before touching it.

I store my granola in tupperware that has a sealing lid, and a pour spout.  We eat it with milk, yogurt, ice cream- and just by itself as a snack.  Check out my recipe for homemade yogurt, because it goes awesome with this granola!

You can vary this recipe up in 100 different ways, and it tastes good in all of them! Some of my variations are

Banana chips and Walnuts

Freeze dried apples and cinnamon

Freeze Dried Berries and chopped Almonds

Pecans, with a little butter substituted for some of the oil (makes a butter pecan flavor)

Dates and a mix of nuts