The Home Cook: Granola

When I know I'm going to be busy, I generally raid my SD card, format a million pictures, slap them into draft forms on my blog editor and then gently release them between panic attacks, not unlike letting a message in bottle drift away from a lonesome desert island as you slowly freak out because your going to die.

As of right now there are six unreleased posts sitting in my blog editor. Most them about food, all them with poor quality photos and all of them relating to things that I'm rather over. There are Apple Danish Bars, selecting sweet corn, lasagna, sesame chicken, paninis and one about my first pair of socks.(On second thought we'll come back to some of those.) So instead of using any of those over the last two weeks, as my life slowly crashed into a brick wall, I took a picture of some granola.

Yes, granola. I am that kind of yuppie. My quest for a yummy granola started a bit less than a year ago. I have startlingly high cholesterol and the number one doctor's recommendation was to eat oatmeal...and since my favorite premade granola was $5-6 PER BOX and only lasted A WEEK...well, this home cook had to do something about it. Since then I've tried a few granola recipes, but none really said, "YES! You will make me again and again and again because I am The One." This recipe did just that. It's sweet, a touch salty (see notes below) and so very easy to customize that I don't see myself getting tired of it any time soon. Which is probably good since I have a feeling I'll be eating granola for a long time to come.

Granola
Adapted From ourkitchensink.wordpress

3 1/2 cups Rolled Oats
1/2 cup Sweetened Coconut Flakes
3 Tablespoons Flax Seeds
2 Tablespoons Wheat Germ
3/4 cup roughly chopped Pecans, toasted
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground Sea Salt
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Canola Oil
2 generous Tablespoons Honey
1 Tablespoon pure Maple Syrup
4 teaspoons Vanilla
2 cups Dried Fruit
1 cup Golden Raisins

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a rimmed sheet with aluminum foil.

In a large bowl combine all the ingredients except the dried fruit. Stir well to incorporate. Spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet in an even layer. Bake 20-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes until the granola is the desired golden brown color.

Remove from oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack. After the mixture has cooled, stir in the fruit and raisins. Store in an air tight container for up to two weeks.


Cook's Notes:

- I think you could use 1 teaspoon of regular sea salt, my container has grinder on it and using one teaspoon of ground sea salt made it vaguely salty. I liked that, but most people wouldn't. I think you could also use 1 teaspoon or a bit less of kosher salt.

- The original recipe calls for unsweetened coconut, but I like the sweet. Mmmmmm sweet angel flake coconut.

- For dried fruit I dried some blueberries, raspberries and strawberries since I was cleaning out the freezer, but any fruit will do. Cranberries would be especially delicious.

- Instead of lining a baking sheet I use a Teflon roasting pan...works like a charm and I can mix everything in it directly. Yay for minimizing dirty dishes!!