What has happened to everyone? If you are all as tired, overworked, and just plain out of it as I am then I understand why our blog has been neglected. But I am reviving it! I am going to post some (gasp!) PICTURES in the coming week, so be ready! But for today's post I am going to share a wonderful recipe.
I happen to love granola. I love it with milk for a cereal, over yogurt or fruit, or just by the handful as a snack. But store-bought granola is pretty tasteless, I've tried to find a good one but to no avail. A few years back I tasted some homemade and knew I needed to stop buying granola and make my own. So the search began for the perfect recipe. After several years of experimenting, I think I might just have a really great granola recipe. And since both Mom and JoAn have requested it, I guess it's time to pass it on. Here goes:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a large bowl, put 6 cups of regular (not quick cooking) oats, 1/2 cup wheat germ, 1/2 c. flax seeds, and 3-4 cups of any variety of chopped nuts you like. Pecans, slivered or sliced almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and walnuts are all good choices. I just use a mix of what I have, and in different amounts according to my mood. Mix all together and set aside. In a glass measuring cup, mix 1/2 c. canola oil, 3 T. honey, 2 T. vanilla, 3/4 c. dark brown sugar, 1 tsp. cinnamon, and 1 tsp. salt. Place in microwave and cook for 1 minute or until mixture comes to a good boil. Stir, then pour over your oat/nut mixture and stir to coat everything well. Spread your granola evenly on baking sheets. Now, I use 3 baking sheets because my oven has 3 racks and that way I can bake 3 pans at once and have it spread thinner that way. If your oven only has 2 racks, it might still work to split the granola onto only 2 pans, I just haven't tried it that way. In any case, put your pans into the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes. Remove pans, stir granola, then put pans back in a different order so they get evenly rotated. Continue to bake and stir and rotate in 15 minute intervals for a total of 1 hour cooking time. At this point you can see if it is the crunchiness you like, depending on how thinly it was spread on your pans. You could continue cooking, or even go less time if you choose. While the granola is cooking, get your fruit ready. I use a mix of golden raisins, chopped dried apricots, cranberries, dried cherries, dried blueberries, or any fruit I have, to equal about 2 cups. I've found that all fruits are pretty much interchangeable except the apricots, they are necessary! Once granola is slightly cooled, stir in dried fruit and store in an airtight container. But I dare you not to eat several handfuls first! Enjoy!
