Homemade Granola

Whoa! We haven’t talked since “Crock Pot Spaghetti”, have we? My apologies. November was the month of change for the Sweeter Thing household. We spent Thanksgiving in South Carolina with family, we did the whole midnight Black Friday shopping thing, I lost all faith in the human species and swore to never do that again, we ate an unhealthy amount of sweet potato casserole and a variety of pie, and drove home in time to do some laundry and head back to Illinois to pack the truck, come back to Music City and close on our new house. The last few house weeks have been a blur of boxes, tape, and signatures. Now that the dust (literally) has settled, I am happy to report that while it was a lot to handle, we had a blessed move and are overwhelmed by how flawlessly it all came together.

So now that the kitchen is unpacked, I’m back. I’m back with all my stuff! My mixing bowls and both mixers, my baking cart and my endless supply of sprinkles. It feels good people. So today, I ease back into my blogging schedule with a simple recipe that has been rocking my world for weeks now. Don’t dismiss granola. It’s amazing. I’ve been eating it straight out of the jar, sometimes two hands at a time, but it is FABULOUS in yogurt (minus the raisins) or in a hundred other ways. Just Google “what to do with granola” and you’ll see, the possibilities are endless. This recipe comes to us from my sister’s mother-in-law, we’ll call her “C”. A woman I’ve adored since the moment I met her. I knew the baby sister would be marrying her hubs when I met his parents. They were classy, down to earth, funny, and so easy to get to know. Our kind of people. Ok, the way those two looked at each other was also a pretty good indication that they were MFEO, but B’s parents sealed the deal for me. Technically, I guess she got this recipe from her boss, but in our house, it’s C’s granola recipe.

Here we go folks. In a large bowl, mix old fashioned oats, cashews, almonds, coconut, and brown sugar.

In a separate, small bowl, mix some oil, pure maple syrup, and salt until well mixed. Pour this mixture over the oat mixture

Mix, and mix, and mix some more. In fact, I poured the oil/syrup mixture in 1/3 at a time to make sure it all got coated evenly. Make sure everything gets good and coated with the maple syrup mixture. Then pour the whole thing into a cookie sheet and spread it out evenly.

Bake at 250 for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15-20 minutes so that it all turns out the same color. Your house will smell heavenly. I said heavenly. Believe it. Remove from the oven and stir in some raisins. Or craisins. Or dried blueberries. Or omit the raisins. Or let it cool completely first and then add mini chocolate chips. Or butterscotch chips. You get it. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes a cute gift for the neighbors huh? Just in time for the holidays!

Homemade Granola

Ingredients:

• 3 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup salted cashews
• 1 cup slivered almonds
• 1 cup shredded sweet coconut
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tablesppons packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons maple syrup (I use the real thing)
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees
• Stir the oats, almonds, cashews, coconut, and brown sugar together in a large bowl.
• Stir the syrup, oil, and salt together in a small bowl until completely mixed. When mixed, pour over oat mixture stirring well until evenly coated. (I pour on about 1/3 and mix, and then repeat twice more to get even coverage).
• Pour onto a cookie sheet and bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to achieve an even color.
• Remove from oven and add 1 cup raisins. Cool completely before storing in air tight container.