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Crunchy Granola
By Sue Lyn, on October 10th, 2005
When I was in college, my friends and I termed anything reminiscent of hippie culture “crunchy granola”. Organic food, bare feet, long hair and long skirts, you know the kind of thing I mean. Stuff that would be natural to people who probably make their own granola.
Well look what happened to me. I actually became the kind of person who makes her own granola. Never thought that would happen, but you know what? Granola you buy at the store is expensive! When I got to like the stuff and started regularly shelling out $4.00 for a little tiny bag, I knew there had to be a better way. After all, the main ingredient of most granola is oats, and oats are cheap, so why does a storebought mixture have to be so costly?
So several years ago I started to experiment. I checked out more than a dozen recipes for various types of granola and started tinkering with ingredients and proportions until I came up with one I could eat nearly every morning. I like it on yogurt with fruit and honey. My mother has gotten addicted to topping her breakfast cereal with it for a bit of extra crunch. It’s also delicious on ice cream.
The hardest part of making granola may be finding the ingredients. I often buy ingredients at a country store that caters to Amish customers, but you may also find everything you need at health food stores or even from baking catalogues. Feel free to substitute– there’s nothing magic about these ingredients or proportions and if you find you really prefer a different kind of nut or a different ratio of grain flakes, then go for it.
Maple Almond Granola
2 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
1 c. sliced almonds
1/2 c. wheat flakes
1/2 c. rye or barley flakes
1/2 c. flaked coconut
1/3 c. raw shelled sunflower seeds
1/4 c. wheat germ
1/2 t. salt
1/3 c. canola oil
3/8 c. maple syrup (Grade B is fine)
1/4 c. honey
1/2 t. almond extract
1 t. vanilla
Heat oven to 325 degrees and prepare an 8×14″ baking pan by lining it with baking parchment to keep the granola from sticking to the pan.
Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir to mix. In a small saucepan, heat the liquid ingredients over low heat just until they are free-flowing (they don’t need to be really hot). Stir into dry ingredients and transfer to the prepared baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes. After the first 20 minutes take the pan from the oven and stir, watching corners carefully to make sure they don’t overbrown, and put back in for another 20 minutes. Stir again, and bake for a final 10 minutes or until uniformly golden brown.
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