Anyone have good granola recipess?

[housewolf]

Does anyone here make their own granola? Do you have any great recipes you could share? I keep adding new things to my repertoire of "blender foods" and granola has become a new one. Since I don't get to taste much, aroma, sight and "the idea" of what I'm having serve as my main stimulus and sensory enjoyment of what I fix. So I recently bought some granola from Whole Foods and it's just awful! Really, not pleasant at all. So I thought I'd see what my favorite cooks here are doing, if any of you folks make it yourself.

Anybody?

[livetohike]

1. An old stand by I've been making since 1973

6 c. rolled outs
1 c. sesame seeds
1 c. sunflower seeds
1 c. wheat germ
1 c. shredded coconut
1 c. raisins or dates or both
1 c. powdered milk (can omit this)
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. honey

Preheat oven to 250 F. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and pour onto a rimmed baking tray. Bake for one hour, stirring every so often. Cool on the tray before storing.

You can leave out the powdered milk. This is a recipe from my backpacking days where you can just add water when you're out on the trail - no milk needed :-).

[housewolf]

2. That looks almost perfect!

Let's see, I don't have any wheat germ so either I'll have to get some or sub hemp seed or flax meal.
I'll definitely skip the powdered milk, sub coconut oil for veg oil, and use probably half honey/half maple syrup.

Oh, and add some nuts - walnuts and/or pecans.

Sounds great! THANK you!

[livetohike]

3. You're welcome

:hug: The beauty of this recipe is you can pretty much substitute anything in those ratios and it always turns out great. Sometimes I add slivered almonds and apricots for the fruit :-).

[housewolf]

4. Here's a nut-free Maple Vanilla Granola

Courtesy of Marcy Goldman, BetterBaking.com

(c) A Marcy Goldman, BetterBaking.Com Original Recipe
www.BetterBaking.Com

My Favorite Maple Vanilla Honey Granola

One of my kids has a nut and peanut allergy so store-bought granolas are not for him and so I created my own, nut-free gourmet granola for him. This recipe is perfect for your own nut allergy kin and friends. Of course, if no one has a nut allergy, free free to add 1/2 cup each walnuts or peanuts, sunflower seeds, and slivered almonds if you like. This recipe just happens to be the most perfectly balanced granola of flavor, sweetness, crunch and slight chewiness. The butter extract I use comes from www.SpicesEtc.com. The maple syrup? Use the pure stuff!


7 cups rolled oats
1-1/4 cup sunflower seeds (unsalted)
1-1/4 cup shredded coconut, optional
3/4 cup sesame seeds
1/3 cup brown sugar, golden, packed firm
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cup canola oil
1-1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1-1/4 teaspoon pure butter extract, optional
1-1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped dates or apricots
1/4 cup dried cranberries, cherries or strawberries

Preheat oven to 300F.


Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

In a small saucepan combine oil, honey and maple syrup. Heat over low heat until mixture is warm enough to blend together.

Pour wet mix into dry ingredients (excluding the dry fruits) and mix thoroughly, adding in vanilla and butter extracts as you do so. The secret to a crunchy granola is to make sure that every particle is completely coated with liquid.

Spread mixture into two or three large baking pans and slow bake or toast! in low oven for one hour and ten minutes. Stir every ten or fifteen minutes. Granola is done when golden brown. Remove from oven and stir in dried fruit.

Cool completely in pans, then store in an airtight container and refrigerate.

Makes 10-12 cups.