When I decided to cut commercial cereal from our diet, I expected a bit of an uproar from the family... or at least some whining from the kids when we bypassed the aisle at the grocery store. However, the children have surprised me by embracing the new breakfast menu - which consists of more filling (and more nutritious) fare such as oatmeal with various add-ins, made-from-scratch pancakes, eggs, bacon or sausage, and when in a hurry... this homemade granola.
My recipe is an adaptation of the granola recipe found in Amy Dacyczyn's book The Complete Tightwad Gazette, which I highly recommend for those interested in living a simpler life and eating healthier on a budget. I found her recipe for granola to be a bit high in sugar content, but instead of reducing the sugar I decided to increase the amount of grains and other dry ingredients so I wouldn't have to make it as often. For a family of six, I make a batch about every week and a half. I often change around the add-in ingredients to provide variety, and my kids love to eat a half cup or so with milk, or sprinkle a bit of it on top of their hot oatmeal. I have listed the ingredients in the order that I use them while making the granola.
8 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup instant dry milk powder
1 tsp cinnamon
A pinch or two of salt
1/2 cup add-in such as almonds, sunflower seeds, or coconut
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup add-in such as raisins, dried cranberries, or dried apples.
Mix dry ingredients (including any nuts or seeds) in a large baking dish such as a 9x13 inch pan.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Heat vegetable oil, honey, and brown sugar in a small saucepan on low or medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Pour this mixture over the dry ingredients and take the time to mix thoroughly... (otherwise you will end up with clumps of sugar and large areas of your granola that have no sweetness at all.)
Bake for 10 minutes. The top will be browned a little, so mix it up, turning the brown bits under and bake again for another 5 minutes.
Take the granola out of the oven and let it cool in the pan. When cooled, use a metal spoon or spatula to chop the granola up and separate the larger pieces. Add your dried fruit of choice and store in an airtight container. Enjoy!
2 comments:
Cool! Sounds similar to mine, which I also found to be too sweet, so I almost halved the sugar. Mine has a base of 10 c dry oatmeal, no dry milk, but I add a cup of wheat germ. The weird thing is that I bake mine at 175 degrees for 6 hours on 2 cookie sheets instead of 15 minutes on 375. That's a huge difference!
Hmmm... Maybe slow roasting it brings out more flavor? It would certainly save time to try cooking it in a baking dish at a higher temp. My oven actually runs hot, so I put it closer to 350 F.
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