I love granola. I love it with my yogurt. I used to buy the full of fat version sold at every chain store across the country. Then when I started having a more natural lifestyle and diet I switched to an organic version, at nearly $6 for a 11.5 ounce box. And one day read the ingredient list on my organic version of granola and it lists "Oat Syrup Solids*" and the * says, "Organic, Contains soy." Sigh.
I should soak my grains. But in truth, I was really lazy yesterday. For tons of great recipes and reasons as to why I should have soaked the grains, follow Katie at Kitchen Stewardship.
Basic Recipe:
10 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup flax see
In today's batch I then added:
2 cups sunflower seeds
3 cups sliced almonds
1 cup pumpkin seeds
In a pan I heated:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup honey
1/2 cup molasses*
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
3 tsp. vanilla extract
Pour over dry mixture and spread into baking pans. Bake at 300 degrees for 30-45minutes stirring frequently. At 30 minutes, I usually shut off the overn but leave the granola inside while it cools down. This saves on electricity and gas but also gets the granola crispy. Once cooled, add raisins and dried cranberries.
I store in a freezer bag in the fridgerator because I'm worried that I may not have dried it enough and mold will grow ruining the money and time I put into making dried foods. I'm a little weird about that.
*Molasses is a by-product from processing sugar cane or sugar beets. Because it is a by-product, I only buy molasses from our organic co-op. Molasses also has a strong flavor, so I sometimes omit it.
And if you accidentially burn a batch because you were too busy scrolling through Pinterest...your chickens will love you!!
Yes, I realize my recipe states to add the raisins/craisins after cooling down but his is the result of having ingredients set up and a 3 year old and 5 year old as kitchen helpers. It still turns out good. :)
Lisa
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