Friday, July 20, 2012

Homemade Granola

Are you traveling this summer? Just on the go a lot? If you are, you can still try to eat healthy.

I love making a homemade granola - it is so easy and really a great healthy snack! A granola is typically a combination of oats, nuts, seeds, dried fruit and a sweetener. You probably get tired of me saying this, but my goal is really to teach you a technique and let you experiment and add what you and your family like. That really is the solution to not getting bored in the kitchen - learn the technique instead of following the recipe line by line.

A lot of granola recipes will say to not use the instant oats. I say use what you have, you will be more successful if you don’t have to go refill your pantry for every recipe with ingredients you won’t use for anything else.

Granola is great by the handful (my favorite way to eat), mixed with milk as a starter to your day or on top of your favorite yogurt for some added crunch. Give my granola a try or make a special variety just for you!

Homemade Granola
Servings: approximately 7-8 cups



Ingredients:
Oats, 3 cups
Shredded coconut, 1 cup
Pecans, 1 c
Pistachios, ¾  c
Pumpkin (Pepita) seeds, ½ c
Sunflower seeds, ⅓ c
Cranberries 1 c
Agave nectar, ⅓ c
Brown sugar ⅓ c
Oil, ⅓ c
Vanilla 1 tsp
Cinnamon, ½ tsp


Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Mix last 5 ingredients together over low heat stirring until sugar dissolved.


While cooking, combine oats, nuts, seeds and coconut in a large bowl.



Add warm sugar mixture to bowl and stir until all coated.  Bake on a greased pan for 25 minutes until golden brown.


 Once cooled, add cranberries and mix.  


Snack away! Granola will last 1-2 weeks in an airtight container.


Better Bonus Tip: Substitute my choice of cranberries, nuts and seeds for your favorites! Some other suggestions are raisins, dried cherries, dried apricots, whole almonds, slivered almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, cashews. You could also substitute maple sugar or honey for the agave nectar.

Update: I now use maple syrup or honey instead of agave nectar.

~Ashley





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