Homemade Granola

You know that movie Julie & Julia about the girl, Julie, who decides to cook only Julia Child recipes and blog about them everyday?

Well, I’m starting to see a trend in my little cooking adventure, and I think we could probably call it “Allie & Cheri”.

Here is yet another fantastic recipe from Cheri’s own recipe book that is really easy and really tasty. It’s rich and flavourful, and relatively healthy as far as breakfast cereals go.

Ingredients

• 3 cups oatmeal
• 1 cup wheat germ
• 1 cup coconut
• 2 tbsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 cup powdered milk
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Optional: dried fruit, nuts, seeds

Method

Put all your dry ingredients into a big bowl and mix well. If you want to add nuts as well, I recommend toasting them a little bit and chopping them up.

I added about a 3/4 cup of toasted and chopped almonds and walnuts. If I had any, I would have also added flax seeds for a nice, healthy crunch.

In a separate small bowl, add your honey, oil and vanilla and microwave it for 2 minutes. It will be very hot so be careful when you take it out of the microwave.

Pour this bowl of sweet goodness over your dry ingredients and mix it altogether very well. At this point you can choose to bake or microwave your granola mixture.

I kind of improvised and did half and half. I microwaved mine to make it easier, and then finished it in the oven to get that nice toasty flavour.

Unfortunately, I think I burnt mine so it got a little too toasty. But I actually tend to like crispy, toasty, bordering-on-burnt flavours so I’m ok with it.

In the microwave, you’ll cook it for about 10 – 15 minutes, stirring it well every 3 minutes or so. Then pour it out onto a cookie sheet to cool.

If you’re baking it, you’ll want to spread it out on a cookie sheet and bake it at 325ËšF for 8 – 10 minutes. Then take it out and stir it around a bit, and bake for another 8 – 10 minutes.

Once cooled, pour it back into a bowl and mix in any dried fruit you want to add. I had half a bag of Craisins in my cupboard so I threw those in.

I think it would be great with chopped, dried apricots, or dried blueberries too.

Enjoy this lovely, toasty granola over yogurt with a dollop of honey, or with milk and fresh berries on top like cereal. Or just keep it in a jar in your kitchen and snack on it with your fingers, day or night. There’s really no wrong way to enjoy this nice, little treat.