Saturday, January 26, 2013

Granola

This is great for breakfast or for a snack. Adapt to your individual taste.  I have tried a few different recipes and this one is a little less sweet and sticky.  Yields 8 cups.

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup vegetable oil. Could also use butter.
1/2 pure maple sugar.  You can use honey or a combination of honey and brown sugar.
1 t. salt
1 T pure vanilla extract
2 cups coarsely chopped nuts.  Use any combination of almonds, walnuts, cashews and or hazelnuts.
6 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup pumpkin or sunflower seeds.  I don;t always include these.  it depends on if I have them on hand.
2 T of brown sesame seeds.  I usually use white.
1/4 t. cinnamon (I like to include this but it is optional)
1 cup flaked coconut (I like to include this but it is optional)
You could include dried fruit at this point or add it when you serve the granola

DIRECTIONS

  1. In a small sauce pan on low heat, warm the oil, syrup, and salt. Stir in vanilla.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together oats, nuts, seeds, cinnamon, and any other ingredients.  Gradually add the warm liquid stirring as you go until all the ingredient are evenly coated.
  3. Spread the granola on an un-oiled baking pan.  Place in a pre-heated 325 degree oven fpr 30 minutes, stir after 20 minutes.  Remove from the oven and to prevent clumping, stir every 10 minutes or so, until cooled.  Store in a closed container at room temperature.