Written By Ellen Welter, PT, DPT, COMT, CN
Granola is delicious! However, store bought granola and cereals often have many additional ingredients to help preserve the product. When something is homemade we are able to control the quality and quantity of the ingredients. With granola begin with the following basic recipe and you can add whatever nuts, seeds, dried fruit and spices you enjoy to create variety. Dried fruits have quite a bit of sugar, so if you are working on being more health conscious, add whole fruit after you have made the granola.
Ingredients:
- 4-6 cups of old fashioned oats
- 1 1/2 cups of nuts (whatever you like, I enjoy walnuts which are heart healthy)
- 1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup olive oil (more heart healthy option) or coconut oil
- 1/2 cup maple syrup or honey
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, nuts and/or seeds, salt and cinnamon.
- Stir to blend. Pour in the oil, maple syrup and/or honey and vanilla.
- Mix well, until everything is lightly coated.
- Pour the granola onto your prepared pan and use a large spoon to spread it in an even layer.
- Bake until lightly golden, about 21 to 24 minutes, stirring halfway (for extra-clumpy granola, press the stirred granola down with your spatula to create a more even layer). The granola will further crisp up as it cools. Let the granola cool completely, undisturbed (at least 45 minutes).
Enjoy the granola with plain yogurt or milk, like cereal!
Adapted from Cookie & Kate’s Recipe
