Easy homemade granola
I could never understand granola. Having first tried it ages ago, it felt dry, boring and was obviously out of a bag. After such a failed experience, I had no interest in pursuing it for years. It’s definitely not something I would ever consider ordering for breakfast. And I certainly never slowed down next to granola shelves while grocery shopping. For the sake of full disclosure, I still do neither of those things. But after a pure chance of luck where some fancy homemade granola was part of a breakfast package at a place we used to frequent, my opinion of it changed. So I now make it quite regularly at home. Fortunately, the recipe is extremely straight-forward and very interchangeable in terms of ingredients.
I like using large oat flakes as they make for a better and crunchier texture but I believe other types deserve to exist too. In this instance I used almonds and pecans, although they can be replaced by any combination of nuts. The same principle applies to the seeds. If you dislike coconut oil, it can be substituted with olive oil. Instead of maple syrup you can use agave or some other sweetener but I don’t recommend honey because it loses its healthy qualities after being heated. If you prefer a sweeter granola I suggest either increasing the amount of syrup or adding some dried fruits after it’s baked and cooled off.
Healthy granola ingredients:
- 4c large oat flakes
- 1c nuts
- 1/2c seeds
- 1/2tsp salt
- 1/2tsp cinnamon
- 1/2c coconut oil
- 1/3c maple syrup
- 1tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 175C (350F). In a large bowl combine 4c oats, 1c nuts, 1/2c seeds, 1/2tsp salt and 1/2 cinnamon. Stir everything with a wooden spoon to distribute evenly.
- Then add 1/2c coconut oil, 1/3c maple syrup and 1tsp vanilla extract. Stir again making sure everything is coated well.
- Once coated, evenly spread the raw granola on a lined baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for about 12 minutes.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and stir the half cooked mixture. Then return to the oven and bake for 12 more minutes.
- Allow the baked granola to cool down to room temperature before storing it in an airtight container.
Serve over or under yogurt, or even as parfait.
Recipe adapted from Cookie and Kate.
