How to Make Granola

I never liked eating cereal for breakfast. That is until I first had granola. There is something about granola that is addictive to me. It may be the mix of crunchy and chewy that I love. It may be the nutty sweet flavor of the oatmeal, the chewy plump raisins or other dried fruit, I don't know but I love it.

I first learned how to make granola from my sister-in-law. She always keeps a big Tupperware container of home made granola in her pantry.

It is very simple to make, I usually don't even measure.

1. Fill your container mostly full of rolled oats, almonds and what ever else you like in your granola (leave enough room to shake it all up)--do not add raisins or dried fruit yet
2. Pour in some sweetener (like maple syrup or honey) and oil (vegetable or canola) mix and toss at regular intervals use just enough sweetener to make it slightly sticky (depending on how sweet you like it) and just enough oil to make every thing shiny
3. Put granola in a baking sheet (about 2 inches deep) in oven on low temp (250F) bake checking and stirring every 15-30 minutes until granola is golden and dried.
4. Let cool for a few minutes and now add the raisins/dried fruit. Put it back in the container to store it

Well that is the basics of granola making.

For more about granola check out:

At my local store the other day, on a quest for granola making supplies, I found something new to try. The store is a kind of ethnic food place with lots of products from India (I find all kinds of interesting new products I've never seen before). So I was looking for some oatmeal (rolled oats, because I didn't think I had enough), which I did not find, but I found something called parched rice. Obviously it is some king of rice product, but it was wafer thin (almost like rolled rice). I bought a smallish bag of it along with my other supplies (sliced almonds, almond oil, coconut chips, and both golden and black raisins)

When I got home, I was very excited. The first thing I did was try the parched rice. It did not have much flavor, it is unseasoned, and had a tough texture. I tried roasting it (like I would in my granola) and that did the trick. It was crispy and slightly nutty (sort of like a flat rice crispy--with out the sugar). That decided it for me, I was going to put it in my granola.

My Granola Recipe:

• 5 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups parched rice
• 1.5 cups sliced almonds
• 1 cup coconut chips (which are like flakes)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cup maple syrup/little bit of honey (just what I had on hand)
• 1/2 cup almond oil
• 2 cups raisins (1 golden, 1 black)

I mixed the oats, rice, almonds, coconut chips, and brown sugar. I added the maple syrup and oil tossing and mixing thoroughly. I put this all in my 13x9x2 inch baking pan (it was very full) and into a 250 degree Fahrenheit oven. I baked it for a total of about 2.5 hours stirring every 30 minutes until it was dried and golden.
*makes about 23 1/2 cup servings

This turned out to be the best granola I have ever made. The flavors and textures are so good together. This is a definite keeper.
Nutrition facts thanks to www.nutritiondata.com. For more nutritional information for this granola.