Granola.

This stuff is delicious, and the great thing about granola is that you can pretty much substitute, subtract or add any of the dry ingredients, as long as you don’t mess with the total amount too much, and it will still be yummy. I found a whole bunch of recipes online and just sort of combined them and added some stuff of my own.

Dry:
8 cups rolled oats
1-1/2 cups wheat germ
1-1/2 cups oat bran
1 cup flax seeds & flax meal (I just put them both in the 1-cup measure, so they add up to a cup together. You could do more or less of either.)
About a cup of almonds
About a cup of pecans
About a cup of walnuts

Liquid:
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
1 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon

To be added last:
A cup or two of coconut
A cup or two of raisins or dried cranberries or other dried fruit

Preheat the oven to 200 F. I used a big turkey-roasting pan, because it makes it easier to stir. I was going to line it with parchment paper, like a few of the recipes said to, but I didn’t end up doing it, and it was fine. So don’t waste your paper.
Combine all the dry stuff in a really big bowl, except for the last two ingredients.
Bring all the liquid stuff to a boil over medium heat, and then pour it over the dry stuff and stir until it’s all coated.
Dump it all in your big roasting pan, and bake it for about 50 minutes, or until it’s as crispy as you like it.
Stir it about every 10 or 15 minutes so that it bakes evenly.
Stir in the coconut, if you want it, in the last 10-20 minutes.
When it’s done, stir in the craisins or whatever fruity thing you decide to put in there.
Then open up a paper grocery bag and spread all your delicious granola out on the counter to cool.
When it’s cool, store it in an airtight container.

One of the things that a lot of the recipes said to try is to use coconut oil instead of the vegetable oil, because apparently it’s really good for you. Plus, can you imagine how yummy and coconutty it would be? Delish. But we didn’t have any, so I’ll have to wait until the next batch I make.

Also, today a whipped up another 1/2 batch of the liquid mix and coated half of what was left of the granola and baked it again in a 9×13 pan and it made some pretty tasty homemade granola bars. I baked it at 350 for about 25 minutes, and only the outside edges were done, so I took them out and baked the rest a little longer. I think next time I would do it at maybe 275, and do it for maybe 30 or 40 minutes, in the hope that it would bake a little more evenly. They were still really good, but all the pieces had different consistencies. Some were really soft and fally-aparty, and other pieces were like a hard granola bar that you would buy in the store. I’d like to find some sort of happy medium between the two. If I figure it out, I’ll let you know, and if any of you end up making these and you figure it out, you let me know too, hey?