How To Make Granola

I love Granola.  Granola on yogurt.  Granola in a smoothie.  Granola sprinkled on ice cream.  Granola by itself even.  Makes a great snack anytime you get the munchies.

It is very yummy stuff…. but very expensive to buy and the commercial stuff is loaded with more sugar than necessary.

So make your own instead.

DSC08561Ingredients

½ Cup Un-sweetened Apple Sauce
¼ Cup Canola Oil
½ Cup Lite Maple Syrup
2 Tbsp. Honey
1 Tbsp. Vanilla Extract
8 Cups Whole Rolled Oats
1 Cup Raw Sunflower Seeds (unsalted)
1 Cup Slivered Almonds (raw, unsalted)
¾ Cup Wheat Bran (or Cracked Wheat)
¾ Cup Ground Flax Seeds
1 tsp Cinnamon
¼ Cup Whole Flax Seeds (or Pepitas)
2 Cups Dried Cranberries (or raisins, dried blueberries or cherries)

Directions

In a large bowl, combine oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, wheat bran, ground flax and cinnamon; mix well.

DSC08545In a saucepan; bring to a boil the apple sauce, canola oil, maple syrup, honey and vanilla extract.  Boil for approx. 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Pour mixture over dry ingredients and mix thoroughly so that all ingredients are coated.  Spread out onto parchment lined cookie sheets (you will need 2 large cookie sheets).

DSC08554Bake at 250°F for 1 hour, rotating pans from top to bottom shelf so that bottoms do not burn.  Remove from oven.  Let cool for about 30 minutes.  Return to large bowl and mix in whole flax seeds and dried cranberries.

DSC08556Let cool completely and store in air tight containers.  Makes about 12 cups.

This recipe is completely adaptable to whatever suits your individual tastes.  Try walnuts, pecans or peanuts if you don’t like almonds.  Any kind of dried fruit can go in as well, just chop them up if they are large pieces like dried apricots and remember to add them after the granola comes out of the oven.  Enjoy!

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3 thoughts on “How To Make Granola

  1. great snack food. I have been playing with granola bars for years now, trying many different recipes, have a few favs and I change the extras. I refuse to send any of my guys bought granola bars, 1/2 sugar, 1/2 fat, ick. 5 min to mix the ingredients, 20 minutes to bake and 10 min to cut and wrap in saran wrap and everyone takes a munchy.

    • This world is really nothing but a processing plant spinning at top speed spitting out junk food for the lazy/harried people of the world. If you plan and set aside one day a week, you can feed your family healthier meals and avoid all the extra fat and sugar….that is a rant for another day though 🙂

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