Creative Granola

Sure, you can buy granola. But it always has either too little of what you like or too much of what you don't like. Making granola gives you a chance to mix and match your favorite ingredients.


Here's my recipe:

4 cups old fashioned oats (not quick-cooking)
1/2 cup light vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey
1 cup chopped raw nuts (sometimes I use pecans, sometimes almonds or cashews)
2 tsp ground cinnamon. Lots of cinnamon is key to making this taste great.
Optional: 2 Tbsp. each sesame and flax seeds for crunchy goodness
1 cup dried fruit or dried fruit pieces (usually cranberries but sometimes raisins, cherries, strawberries or blueberries)
1 cup unsweetened toasted coconut strips or shredded coconut

Mix the oats, nuts and cinnamon in a large bowl. Mix honey and oil together and pour over oat mixture, stirring. Don't worry if it clumps up - when it is in the oven, the clumps will melt in the heat.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spread oat mixture on a large baking sheet and cook for an hour, stirring every 15 minutes or so. If your coconut is raw, you can put it in about 15 minutes before the granola is done so it cooks with the other ingredients.

Remove from oven, add dried fruit (and coconut if you haven't put it in already). Voila. Granola how you like it. It makes a good snack as well as a breakfast cereal.