Granola

I was gearing up to end the week with a fabulous and easy fish taco recipe. However, my plans have changed and I’m pushing it back to Monday. Why? Because a good friend and fellow mommy shared with incredible recipe for granola over on her blog a while back. She calls it “Your Granola” and I couldn’t agree more. She gives the basics on what to include, as well as her version. I finally was able to make it last night. I gave it a taste and knew that it was something I wanted to share with GOC readers right away. I’m giving you her recipe that I modified for myself. It’s also very, very economical. If you were to buy a bag of granola in the store, you’re looking at a good $5 for just a few ounces. She also continues by saying that she likes keeping the ingredients simple and natural. There is no reason to add artificial sweeteners here. She uses honey in her recipe because it’s natural. I used a mixture of agave and honey.  What ever you use, you’re sure to love her recipe. While your there, make sure you take a look at her other posts. She has some great craft ideas and ideas for green living among other things.


What You Need:

5 cup rolled oats, not quick cooking
1 c pumpkin seeds
1 c sunflower seeds
1/2 c cashews
1/2 c almonds
1 c raisins
1 c dried cherries
1/3 c agave
1/3 c honey
2 tsp cinnamon
What To Do:
In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients but the dried fruit together. Make sure to mix it well so that everything is covered by the honey and agave. This is what makes it crunchy. Turn out onto a 1/2 sheet pan and bake in a preheated 350 oven for 30 minutes. Make sure to stir after every 10 minutes. During my last 10 minutes, I separated the granola onto two sheet pans. This isn’t necessary but I wanted to make sure that my nuts and seeds got really toasty, which they did, but it was almost to far.
Once it’s cooled, stir in the dried fruit and store in airtight containers.