I think I’ve posted granola recipes before. They’re all pretty similar… I just whipped a batch up this morning because we’d run out of both cereal and eggs, and I found (to my surprise) that I had an unopened jar of maple syrup in the pantry! (At some point in the past I was clearly thinking ahead to this very eventuality… thank you, self, for that forethought!)
So, this is the gist of it. Eminently variable to your tastes!
GRANOLA RECIPE – BASIC
8 cups rolled oats or mixed rolled cereal
4 cups mixed nuts and seeds (The original recipe called for 3 cups of chopped almonds. Hello, I can’t afford that. What I do have is, I have an ice-cream pail filled with a mixture I use in my bread — pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds, quinoa, millet, amaranth)
1 cup brown sugar (less or more, to your taste – I’m guesstimating here, since I just kind of used a 1-1/2 measuring cup, scooped some into it and threw it in the mixing bowl)
2 tsp ground cinnamon (I grabbed for the cinnamon and got my sweet-spice mix, so this batch is a little more complex in its flavors)
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp salt (this is totally optional, depending on whether your peanut butter is salted, and whether you use oil or salted butter down below)
1/2 cup prune juice (original recipe called for unsweetened applesauce, but this is what I had. Turned out just fine.)
1 cup natural peanut butter (there was nothing like this in the original recipe. I just like peanut butter flavored granola so in it went!)
1 cup syrup (you can use honey/maple syrup/molasses/rice syrup/corn syrup – I used half and half maple syrup and molasses.)
1/4 cup oil or butter
dried fruit (this batch used cranberries and a few diced apricots)
Preheat the oven to 300F (150C).
1. In a very large bowl, mix together the flaked grains or oats, nuts/seed mixture, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.
2. In a small saucepan, warm the peanut butter with the syrup and oil.
3. Mix the syrup mixture into the dry ingredients until thoroughly dispersed, then divide and spread the mixture evenly on two baking sheets. (If you have ones with sides, often called jelly-roll pans, use them.)
4. Bake the granola for about 45 minutes, stirring every ten minutes, until the granola is deep golden brown.
5. Remove from oven, mix in dried fruit, then cool completely.
Store the granola in a large, airtight container. It will keep for up to one month.
