Customize Your Granola

Buying granola in the store is such a scam. It is super cheap and easy to make it at home. Plus, then you don’t have to tolerate having any nasty bits in there that you don’t want (I’m looking at you raisins).

This recipe was born from a mis-buy of a large, you could even call it jumbo canister of old fashioned oats. You know, the one with that scary, smarmy looking pilgrim guy with the bad haircut on the label. Turns out, my little darlings are partial to steel cut oats for their savory breakfast oatmeal, so I was stuck with this gigantic silo of old fashioned oats.

Nobody likes oatmeal cookies, at least not in our house, so that was out. I don’t like oatmeal at all as a rule, so I was not willing to take one for the team on this score. I guess we could have given it away, but I don’t like to give up so I turned to the Google gods for inspiration. Eureka! Granola! My sweetie likes it mixed with yogurt and fruit and they sell that shit for like 10 bucks for a tiny little bag in the grocery store. I was all over this plan like white on rice.

In a big bowl measure out about 3 cups of old fashioned oats and mix in about 1 teaspoon of salt (trust, this is needed, don’t leave it out). Measure out around ½ cup of coconut oil and melt it in a pan or in a glass measuring cup in the microwave. Stir into the oil  something else sweet that you like (I’ve used honey, agave, brown sugar even date butter). The sweetness part is to your own taste, anywhere from a couple of tablespoons to, I don’t know, maybe a cup? I stick to the less sweet end of the spectrum so you are on your own here. Also, you can add other flavorings to the oil and sweet mixture. I like vanilla and almond extracts, but other ones would be good too (maple maybe, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, etc). Put that oily stuff aside and find some other goodies to throw into the oats. I love pepitas in this as well as pecans. Any nuts would be good. Add some dried fruit if you like, I used dates and that rocked, but have tried dried cranberries too. I like coconut flakes in mine, but you don’t have to use it. I know how divisive coconut can be! Then add the oil mixture to the oat stuff and stir it all round until everything is coated. Turn it out into a ½ sheet pan size rimmed baking sheet lined with something (parchment, silicone mat). Pack it down with the back of a spoon, or your hands. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or so until it is all toasted and yummy, stirring and packing back down once during the baking process. Let it cool on the counter then cover and don’t touch it until the next day. Then you should wake up to some awesome granola chunks.