Yummy Old-Fashioned Homemade Granola

Yummy Old-Fashioned Homemade Granola

I don’t know about your family, but my kids and I really enjoy the crunch of granola as cereal, sprinkled on fruit, scattered over yogurt, or even just a dish to nibble on plain. The downside of this is that one small and rather expensive bag literally vanishes before your eyes! For those with multiple food allergies, it is often even harder to find and much more expensive! This difficulty is topped off with limited or often only one flavor from which to choose.
The GREAT thing is granola is one of the easiest things to make. Depending on your available resources and flavor choices, it can be made quite cheaply. Homemade granola also allows everything to be tweaked to your personal taste. And of course, there are no unpleasant sneaky surprises like unwanted preservatives or artificial sweeteners at the end of the label.
The complex flavor of a tasty granola typically uses items from seven different areas. A simple understanding of these areas can help you customize your granola for a truly out of this world treat!

1. The Base

You begin with the granola base. This is normally comprised of oats. Old-fashioned oats are cut thicker than quick-oats and this thickness provides the texture that people think of with granola. Change the cut and you change the whole texture. On the other hand, certifications like gluten-free and organic refer to how the oats were grown and affect the health aspect not the texture. I prefer to purchase organic oats because third-party testing has shown the amount of the herbicide glyphosate found in conventional oatmeal to be well over what many consider to be safe limits! This was the case with all the major brands tested. For those who don’t like oats, you can make a base from puffed rice, puffed millet, or a crisp rice cereal.

2. Nuts and Seeds

Walnuts, cashews, pecans, whole or sliced almonds, pistachios, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds and sweetened coconut flakes are all popular. These items increase the protein and natural healthy oils in this tasty treat and bring different tastes and texture variations to the finished granola.

3. Healthy Fats and Oils

Oil is the secret to you granola’s crunchiness and toasty brown color. It also helps to hold the various items together and seal in the flavors. I like the flavor of butter in my granola and I use coconut oil when I need a dairy free option. Price and availability are your only issues here as you can use any oil or fat of your choice.

4. Sweetener

I have found using a combination of sweeteners gives the best overall flavor, each type adding something to the flavor profile and uniqueness of the blend. My favorites include: honey, real maple
syrup not “pancake syrup”, brown sugar, fruit puree such as apple or peach and molasses. You can also use coconut sugar, monk fruit or agave nectar. By using both a liquid and granular sweetener you get the best of both worlds. The granular sweetener adds a nice crust on the granola base and the liquid helping in the binding area. If you use solely liquid sweeteners you tend to get a tougher and chewier granola.

5. The Main Binder

Who doesn’t love those big crunchy clusters in their granola? This is best achieved by adding egg whites to the mix! For those needing egg-free, standard egg substitutes are one tablespoon of ground flax or chia seeds mixed with three tablespoons of hot water. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes to gel up before use. I don’t have a lot of experience with these substitutions in granola, but I have used flax successfully in many other recipes. The sweeteners mentioned above also help with binding.

6. Spices and Salt

Spices add more than we realize to a granola, they help in giving it that earthy depth. I like to use cinnamon most of the time, but depending on the flavor profile you are aiming for nutmeg, apple pie spice, pumpkin spice blends and gingerbread blends all work great. The salt works to compliment the sweetness and gives that sweet and salty taste everyone is addicted too. Any salt will work, but I prefer Himalayan Pink Salt since it contains so many different minerals.

7. Other Additions and Flavors

This section is where it gets fun and the possibilities become limitless. You can add peanut butter, almond butter, cocoa or carob powder, and even vanilla or almond extract. All these items are added to the “wet mixture” in the recipe. Although dry, the powders combined more evenly when mixed with the liquids than with the oatmeal and nuts. Dried fruit like blueberries, strawberries, cherries, cranberries, apples, or the ever popular raisin can also be incorporated. It is best to add dried fruit after the granola is cooled to prevent the fruit from absorbing moisture that condensates as the mixture cools. Chocolate chips are another option, just be sure to add them after your granola has completely cooled to avoid the chocolate becoming a melted mess.

My Basic Recipe:
4 cups of Old-fashioned Oats or other base mix
1½ cups Additional Items: nuts, seeds, coconut, dried fruit, etc.
1/4 cup Melted Butter or other oil
1/4 cup Honey or other liquid sweetener
1/4 cup Brown Sugar or other granulated sweetener
1 Egg White
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt
2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 teaspoon Almond Extract

Start by preheating your oven to 300* F. You will want to place your oven rack in the second from the top position for best results. Next, line your baking sheets with parchment paper or if you have it, I prefer to just use a well seasoned large cast iron pan. Mix together your base ingredients with your dry sweeteners, nuts and spices in a large bowl, and set aside.

Then whisk together your choice from the fats/oils (pre-melt if needed) with your liquid sweetener. Also add any additional liquids like vanilla and binders such as peanut butter or egg whites. Important: If using melted butter, make sure it has cooled before mixing it with binders like egg whites or you will cook the eggs and get small chunks of scrambled eggs in your granola!

You are now ready to add your wet mixture to your dry base.

Stir until thoroughly combined.

Press mixture firmly into the pan, this helps create those yummy clusters.

Place into preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes. Halfway through the baking it is a good idea to turn the pan so the granola browns evenly. Cooking time may vary depending on what ingredients you choose to use so keep an eye on things as it progresses. Remove from the oven and let cool completely, before breaking up.

Add in your dried fruits.

Granola will store in an air tight container for up to two weeks at room temperature, or in freezer for longer storage.

Amount of finished granola will vary based on your choices of ingredients.

Happy creative nibbling, the Homesteading Hen