Homemade granola

I have been on a bit of a granola kick lately, which is to say that I can't seem to stop making and eating it.

I had heard that granola was easy to make, but I didn't believe it because the first granola recipe I ever tried was this one from Nigella Lawson, which has a long list of ingredients and required a special trip to the store to purchase brown rice syrup, like I'm ever going to use THAT for anything else again. And to make matters worse, the granola was not good. I don't know where I went wrong, but it tasted like what I imagine the floor under the bulk bins at Whole Foods would taste like if you bent down there and licked it. I ended up throwing it out. Total waste of brown rice syrup!

But I was determined to try again (not for a couple of years, but you know, it takes time to recover from trauma). That's when I found this recipe for Maple-Nut Granola. Do you see the relatively short list of NORMAL ingredients there? In fact, I'm pretty sure I had everything on hand to make this when I first read the recipe. So I did. And it was SENSATIONAL. I finally felt like I understood this whole homemade granola thing! It IS easy! And it's way cheaper and tastes so much better than anything you can buy in a store. It really, really does. I've made it enough times now that I've started modifying the recipe somewhat, coming up with different additions and sweeteners and fats and whatnot based on what we like and what's in the pantry when I get a granola craving.

My daughter is allergic to tree nuts, and I wanted to make a granola that she could eat. So I substituted seeds for nuts, added a bit of chocolate, et voila!

Nut-Free Granola

3 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds (known as "pepitas" hereabouts)
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
3 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup honey
generous dash of kosher salt
1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips (or other chopped chocolate)

Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips. Spread onto a foil-lined baking sheet and bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes. Stir, rotate baking sheet 180 degrees and bake for 10-15 minutes more or until toasty. Let cool completely, then break it up and mix in the chocolate chips. Store in an airtight container.

The kicker? My daughter doesn't like this granola. She says she's not a fan of sesame seeds. NOW she tells me. So I've been eating this up myself, and I'm here to tell you, it's fantastic with vanilla yogurt and sliced bananas. Or even just eaten out of hand as a snack.


Here's another favorite, which does contain nuts.

Apricot-Almond Granola

3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup coarsely chopped almonds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
3 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup honey
generous dash of kosher salt
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots

Combine all ingredients except apricots. Spread onto a foil-lined baking sheet and bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes. Stir, rotate baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes more or until toasty. Let cool completely, then break it up and mix in the apricots. Store in an airtight container.


Do you see now how easy this whole granola thing is? You basically need some oats, a small amount of fat of some sort, a bit of liquid sweetener, a dash of salt, and then you can tart it up with whatever else you like in the way of spices, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, chocolate chips, whatever. What I love about it is that I can make the granola EXACTLY how I want it. Store-bought granola is never quite right for me. If I like the nut(s) in it, then the fruits are all wrong, or vice-versa. When I make it myself it is just exactly right, every time. The only downside is that because the homemade stuff doesn't contain preservatives, it doesn't keep quite as long. That's not really a problem around here though, seeing as how I'm porking this stuff down 24/7 right now.

So yeah. Granola! It is easy and cheap! You should make some.