Have you ever wanted to add granola to yogurt or use it in a recipe and realized how expensive it is at the grocery store? Well worry no-more with this simple make your own granola recipe. This recipe was adapted from www.thekitchn.com.
Ingredients:
To makes 2.5 cups of granola:
1/4 cup canola oil or other neutral oil, such as coconut or olive oil
1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1.5 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds (can be omitted)
1/2 cup raisins or other dried, chopped fruit (or chocolate chips)
Directions
Heat the oven to 300°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 300°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk together the oil, honey/maple syrup, cinnamon, and salt. Place the oil, honey/syrup, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
Add the oats and almonds and stir to coat. Go ahead and measure the oats and almonds right into the oil mixture — don’t worry if you add a little more oats or almonds — granola is very forgiving. Stir to coat well.
Spread the oats out onto the prepared baking sheet. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking sheet and spread into an even layer. If the granola is clumpy, use a spatula to press it into the pan.
Bake for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through. Bake, stirring halfway through, for about 20 minutes total. The granola is ready when golden-brown and the almonds have toasted — it will still feel wet coming out of the oven but will dry as it cools.
Remove from the oven, add the fruit, tamp down, and cool. Place the baking sheet on a wire rack and sprinkle on the raisins or fruit. If you want clumps of granola, press and tamp down the granola before it cools, which will help it stick together. Cool completely before storing.
Store in an airtight container. Transfer the cooled granola to an airtight container for long-term storage at room temperature.
Baking Tips
Knowing when the granola is done. Arguably the hardest part of baking granola is knowing when the granola is done. Using a low oven temperature helps dry out the granola without over-baking it, but keep in mind that the granola won’t be dry right out of the oven — it will dry as it cools, so take it out of the oven when it looks lightly toasted and smells like cooked honey. We’re going for a toasty smell here.
Add dried fruit after baking. You can toast most nuts with the oats in the oven, but dried fruit will burn on the pan, so be sure to add it after baking.
Photo by Polina Tankilevitch from Pexels.com
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