Saturday, January 22, 2011

Life-Changing Granola


Making granola at home will change your life.  You'll be thinner, wealthier, and able to multiply six-digit numbers in your head.  Okay, maybe not the six-digit number part, but perhaps the thinner and wealthier part. ;-)  Homemade granola is easy to make and tastes about a million times better than store-bought.


The recipe below was inspired by Alton Brown's version which you can find here.  I like to nix the raisins and add dried cherries and chocolate chips.  Feel free to play around with the other ingredients.  It's excellent with walnuts instead of cashews and you can throw in just about any dried fruit.

What's your favorite granola?


Cherry Chocolate Granola
3 cups rolled oats (not quick cooking or instant oats)
1 cup cashews
1 cup slivered almonds
¾ cup shredded coconut
¼ cup dark brown sugar
⅓ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup maple syrup
¾ tsp salt
1 cup dried cherries
¼ - ½  cup dark chocolate chips (depending on how chocolate-y you like it)
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.  Combine the first five ingredients in a large bowl.  In a smaller bowl combine the oil, syrup, and salt.  Pour the liquid over the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Divide the mixture evenly between two half sheet pans lined with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes.
Allow the granola to cool thoroughly before adding the dried cherries and chocolate chips.
Store in an airtight container.

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