I like granola. I like that it’s convenient for those week days when your morning is rushed and you don’t want to wait in the long line at Starbucks for a muffin. I also like that it doesn’t take a chef in the kitchen to make a batch of it. In fact, you really don’t need to have any kitchen skills; it’s pretty foolproof. You just need a few ingredients and an oven.
Granola is just like most other recipes; you can tweak the ingredients to your liking or to what you already have in the pantry. I like to add a little flavor to mine by using dried up fruit. Both cherries, cranberries, bananas and apple chips do wonders for a batch of granola. If you’re not the fruit-kind, simply sprinkle some cinnamon on-top to add a little more.
Ingredients
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- ½ cup pecans, chopped
- ½ cup almonds, chopped
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ stick of unsalted butter
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- handful of dried cranberries
- handful of dried cherries, optional
Instructions
- Heat oven to 300. Place parchment paper onto a cookie sheet.
- Combine old-fashioned oats, pecans, almonds, dark brown sugar, cinnamon and sea salt in a large bowl. Mix well.
- Melt unsalted butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Swoosh that pan around a bit, it helps the butter melt a little faster. Remove from heat and pour into a small bowl. Add maple syrup and vanilla extract. Whisk well.
- Pour butter mixture into bowl of dry ingredients. Stir well until all dry ingredients are covered and layer thinly on parchment paper covered cookie sheet.
- Bake for 35 minutes, or until granola is golden brown. Make sure you stir granola around every 10-15 minutes.
- Add dried cranberries after removing granola from oven and letting cool off slightly. Package when granola is completely cooled off.