Homemade Granola
In my humble opinion, homemade granola is far superior to any store-bought variety. Which is why we’ve been making our own for a couple years now. Making granola at home allows you to eliminate the extra preservatives and sugar and get right down to the good stuff. Plus it’s so, so easy! We’ve experimented with many recipes over time, had some trial and error for sure, but earlier this year we finally settled down to our favorite basic, go-to recipe. This is my husband’s creation, so all credit goes to him for the perfect simplicity of this granola. The hearty dose of cinnamon gives this granola just the right flavor, and it becomes the perfect base for mixing in your ingredients of choice—my favorite combination is dried apricots with toasted, unsweetened coconut flakes. A few other pairings we’ve done that I recently snapped in the making—dried cranberries with slivered almonds and dried currants with hemp seeds. But you can load in whatever you like!
Homemade Granola
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons maple syrup
3 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 tablespoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
Mix-ins: nuts and dried fruit, finely chopped
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Put oats in a large mixing bowl. Combine honey, syrup, and oil in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Stir in the cinnamon and salt. Pour the honey mixture over the oat mixture in the bowl, tossing until the oats are thoroughly coated. Spread the oat mixture evenly onto baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake 30-35 minutes, stirring every 5-10 minutes. Cool completely; granola will harden as it cools. Stir in your choice of nuts and chopped dried fruit. Store in an airtight container (we use large mason jars) for one week.