This cereal recipe has been our family secret for years – it is such a secret that we all have our own versions and they are constantly changing. My brother Bradley used to lock himself in the pantry to protect his ingredient list. Try making this granola once and you will find that you will be able to create multiple versions for yourself that you can enjoy with any yogurt, ice cream or as a crunchy dry snack. This recipe allows you to be resourceful and creative. Use up those last bits of cereal, oats, dried fruit in your cabinet. You are the boss of this recipe. The dry and wet measurements can be used as a guide to fulfilling your own flavor fantasy. The key to this recipe is that you need:
- 4 cups of any type of rolled grains
- 3 cups of random ingredients
- 1/3 of a cup of fat of some form
- 1 cup or more of sweetener
- ¼ cup of liquid
- 2 tsp flavoring
- Sea Salt
I do not lock myself in the pantry – ok fine we have a tiny Seattle kitchen so that is absolutely not possible. I merely look in my cabinets and see what little bits and pieces need to be used up, or will entice my teenagers out of their rooms. Here is my base recipe as well as some flavor mix-ups.
- 2 cups of Old-fashioned Oats
- 2 cups combination of rolled Rye, Barley, Whole Grain Triticale, Flaxseed, Wheat flakes
- 3 cups of ANYTHING pick from Walnuts, Sunflower Seeds, Pecans, Macadamia nuts, Almonds, Pumpkin Seeds, Sesame Seeds, Pistachios, Cashews, Hazelnuts, Wheat Germ, Broken Ice Cream Cones, Graham crackers, Corn-Chex™, Rice Krispies™, Cheerios™, coconut flakes, dried fruit of any kind: cherries, blueberries, apples, candied ginger, peaches, raisins, etc.
- 1 tsp. Sea Salt or to taste
- 1/3 cup Canola Oil, Coconut Oil, Light Olive Oil
- 1 cup any combination of Maple Syrup, Agave Syrup or Honey
- ¼ to ½ cup Dark Brown Sugar
- 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 1 tsp. Extract of your choice
- ¼ cup water or other liquid
- everything else in the kitchen but the VERY clean sink!
Preheat oven to 225° F
Use the convection oven option if you have it to help dry out the granola. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Bring syrups, water, brown sugar, oil, and salt to a light boil in a small saucepan and cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes. Stir in extracts or spices of your choice. Pour over oat mixture kitchen sink mixture (NOT the dried fruit) and stir until coated. Spread onto a large rimmed baking sheet and bake until deep golden brown, 30 to 45 minutes stirring every 10 minutes to prevent dark spots. During the last 5 minutes you can add any form of dried fruit; tart cherries, cranberries, raisins, dried mango, pineapple. If you add them too early, they will puff and get weird.
When the granola comes out of the oven press it down with the back of a spoon or the bottom of a metal one cup measure, don't stir it again until it's cooled so that large yummy chunks form.
FLAVORICOUS ideas:
§ Pecan and Tart Cherry adding dried cherries during the last 5 minutes of the bake.
§ Pina Colada with coconut, use rum or pineapple juice instead of water, coconut extract, dried pineapple during the last 5 minutes of the bake.
§ Browned butter Walnut – brown a stick of butter before you add the syrups and sugar
§ Cinnamon Maple Apple Use all walnuts for the nut portion and only maple syrup. Substitute apple juice instead of water stirring in 1 tsp of ground cinnamon and maple extract to liquid before adding to the dry ingredients. Stir in chopped dried apples during the last 5 minutes of the bake.
§ Spicy Ginger stirring in 1 tsp of fresh or dried ginger to liquid before adding to the dry ingredients. And adding candied ginger during the last 5 minutes of the bake.
§ Fruit & Cream: Toss 1/3 cup dried milk powder with the dry ingredients and then add dried blueberries or dried peaches during the last 5 minutes of the bake.
§ Granola LITE: Use one large egg white instead of oil with only agave syrup and more puffed rice cereal than nuts.
§ Savory Side: Cut the sweeteners in half and add cracked black pepper or cayenne pepper and more salt to the flavorings and use a light olive oil for seasoning. You can also add 1 cup of grated parmesan and chopped meat jerky during the last 5 minutes of the bake.