Crunchy Granola

I love how versatile granola can be, it’s great all on it’s own or can be used as a topping or it also makes great cookies.  I don’t care for how sweet most commercial granola’s are though.    This granola base is just sweet enough and because of the simplicity of the recipe can be altered to suit any taste.  You can easily change the nuts or dried fruits; add coconut or other items that will make it your own.  I made this one with almonds, pecans, dried cranberries and golden sultana raisins.  The recipe makes a very large batch which stores nicely for a long time in an air tight container.

I plan to use the batch I made for yogurt parfait, layering Greek yogurt, fresh berries and the granola drizzled with honey.  I will probably also make some cookies with some of it, I generally alter a basic oatmeal cookie recipe using the granola in place of the oats.

Basic Homemade Granola

Ingredients

• 1 ½ C Brown Sugar
• ½ C water
• 4t pure vanilla extract
• 1t salt
• 8C oats
• 1C pecans, coarsely chopped
• 1C almonds, coarsely
• Dried fruits or other additives

 

Directions

• Heat oven to 275F
• Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper
• Combine sugar and water in a 4C microwave safe container
• Microwave on high 5 minutes or until sugar is completely dissolved
• In a large mixing bowl, mix oats, nuts and brown sugar syrup
• Mix thoroughly
• Spread evenly on cookie sheets and bake 45 minutes to 1 hour, until golden brown
• When granola has cooled completely, add dried fruits and store in an air tight container

Get your ingredients all together and chop the nuts to the size you prefer, I like a coarse chop, but I have used whole nuts a few times if I am going to be eating the mix by itself (it is also very yummy if you plan to eat it this way to candy the nuts before adding them into the recipe.)

Measure out your oats and mix in the nuts, set aside.

I dissolved the brown sugar on the stove top for this recipe, but using the microwave is also an option.  At the restaurant it is just easier for me to use the stove top method.

 

I like to add some honey to the sugar syrup at this point, but it is not necessary.  Pour the sugar syrup into your oat mixture and mix well, being sure all the oats and nuts are covered with the sugar syrup.  Spread onto your prepared cookie sheets and pop it into the oven.

Roast the mixture until it is dry and golden brown.

Once the mixture is cooled, add in your dried fruits, coconut, chocolate chips or whatever you have chosen to augment the granola mixture.

To finish off mine today, I used some Greek yogurt and nice ripe strawberries to make a parfait.

I layered yogurt, berries then granola and repeated a second layer.  I drizzled some honey on top of the final layer for a delicious lunch.  These are great for breakfast too!