I made granola for the first time this past weekend! My healthy breakfast of choice lately has been Nancy's Nonfat Vanilla Yogurt (with live cultures = good yogurt, it really is awesome) and granola. However, all of my store bought granola doesn't seem to go very far, and I've seen so many awesome granola recipes I thought it was high time I gave it a try.
I based this recipe on Alton Brown's granola recipe. (Alton Brown is one the chefs that I absolutely trust - love him!) It turned out AWESOME! Sweet, a tad salty, buttery and yummy! I've actually been eating handfuls of it all day today, which I never would have done with my store-bought granola. I'm not sure if it's any healthier than store-bought, but I am going to tell myself it is. (Isn't everything that you make yourself healthier?)
INGREDIENTS:
- 3 cups rolled oats (or "old fashioned oats" if you can't find rolled oats at your grocery store.
- 1 cup slivered almonds
- 1 cup cashews
- 3/4 cup shredded sweet coconut
- 1/4 c. plus 2 tbs brown sugar
- 1/4 c. plus 2 tbs maple syrup (REAL maple syrup!)
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 1 cup dried fruit - raisins, dried cranberries, dried banana's… the sky is the limit, I think! I used golden raisins.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the rolled oats, almonds, cashews, coconut and brown sugar. In another bowl, combine the vegetable oil, maple syrup and salt. Mix everything together. Spread the mixture onto 2 baking sheets. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to make sure it is browned evenly. Mix in your dried fruit until everything is well distributed. Voila!
Sooo good! Next time I would like to try making a hawaiian granola. One of Jon and I's favorite places here in West Seattle (well, in all of Seattle to be honest) is Marination Mai Kai on Alki. They serve a homemade "Aloha Granola" with coconut and (I think) papaya, and it's pretty awesome. Stay tuned for a future hawaiian themed granola recipe!
In the meantime, have a wonderful week!
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| Like my awesome re-use of Classico spaghetti sauce jars?? :) |
I looooooove granola! Yours looks so yummy!
ReplyDeleteSofie x
Little green Sofie
Thanks Sofie, I need to start adding some unique fruits to mine - perhaps like your dried figs!
DeleteI love Granola and yogurt! I also like mixing in fresh fruit. This looks so delicious, and it's probably more economical than store bought. I don't know if it's healthier either, but I once read an article by a nutritionist that said, "You can eat anything you want, just make it yourself." The reason being that you won't add the ridiculous amounts of sugar and preservatives that companies and (some) restaurants will. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletehttp://howtomakehome.blogspot.com
Absolutely - even if it still has a lot of sugar (for example), at least you know exactly where that sugar came from…! It definitely turned out to be cheaper and better than store bought.
DeleteLooks fantastic! I love Alton Brown, too ;-).
ReplyDeleteIsn't he fun? I always trust his recipes!
DeleteMmhm! That granola looks good! I always eat yogurt with granola too for breakfast xD It's just so good and easy! I'll definitely be giving this recipe a try!
ReplyDeletexx
Brooke Jordan
http://lifeisaconstantjoy.blogspot.com/