by Nicole Wines
Homemade Granola!
This is what I made for this week’s D.I.Y. Fridays, because granola is just so much more fun (and more tasty) when you make it yourself! The measurements can be adjusted according to taste, I’m just giving you an outline of how I made mine. It’s especially fun to make this with kids, and amazing to see how many “health foods” they’ll actually eat when they are under disguise as a crunchy snack.
Ingredients
-Rolled oats (4 cups)
-Buckwheat (2-3 cups)
-Flax seed (1 cup)
-Oil (1 cup, high heat oil like organic canola or coconut is best)
-Honey (1/2 cup, use more if you want your granola to be very sweet, try to make it local!)
Optional Ingredients to add (except for the dry fruit, you can add any of these before OR after toasting, all measurements are according to taste)
-Shredded coconut
-Nuts (almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts, any nuts you like, crushed or whole, roasted or raw!)
-Sunflower seeds
-Dried fruit (like the nuts, this can be anything you like, but to give you some ideas, you can use cranberries, cherries, chopped dried apples, chopped dates, raisins, mango, strawberries…any dried fruits!)
Spices (optional, measure to taste)
-Cinnamon
-Clove
-Cardamom
Directions
Mixing the dry ingredients for homemade granola. My mix was oats, flax, and buckwheat.
-Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
-Mix rolled oats, buckwheat, flax seed, oil, honey and any of the optional ingredients that you want toasted in a large bowl until the dry ingredients are coated with the oil and honey mixture.
-Sprinkle in spices to taste and mix.
-Spread thin on a baking sheet (or baking sheets!).
Toasted granola! You have to toast it by eye, stirring every 5-10 minutes, until it is just the right shade of brown for your taste! Compare with the color of the oats in the photo above to get an idea of how it should look when toasted.
-Bake/toast in oven, stirring every 5-10 minutes, until the mixture reaches the desired level of browning.
-Let cool, add dried fruit and any optional ingredients that you didn’t want toasted.
-Enjoy by the handful as a snack or mixed into yogurt!