A few weeks ago I made granola for the first time, and it came out fantastic! I used a recipe from the Cooks Illustrated website for Classic Granola and added a few extras, it seems a very versatile recipe. This morning I wondered what to make for breakfast and Ana suggested making the granola again. I still had plenty of all the ingredients to make it again, so I thought good idea!
It's such a simple thing to make, you basically just chop the nuts, I used walnuts and almonds...
Give Eloise her token walnut that she waits for as soon as she sees the bag come out...
Mix with the oats and seeds, add a little coconut for some chewy sweetness...
and then heat up some honey and maple syrup and a bit of canola oil, and mix it in...
Spread it in a pan, and bake the granola, and turn it every few minutes to evenly brown the oats and toast the nuts.
Add some raisins and cranberries. Last time I also added dried strawberries, yum!
Then in order to make bigger chunks, I press down on the granola with paper towels, which sort of sticks the granola together in bigger chunks similarly to Rice Krispie treats.
And wah-la, homemade granola. I love it!
It seems to be much cheaper to make your own granola. I know that the ingredients are a bit expensive, but it makes a lot, and the natural granola from the store is sold in such small packages and costs at least $5 for about 3-4 what I consider small servings. I can get about 10-12 fairly big servings from one recipe. It's definitely the way to go, and much simpler than I thought it would be.
Now I am curled up on the couch finishing some icord for those baby booties and listening to the insane gusty wind outside. I have a feeling there may be some trees and branches down after this one. Driving rain too. Very glad I'm home today!

