I realized when I posted about Christmas baking that I had not shared my favorite granola recipe. I will confess, I am hoping to/planning to try a sourdough granola recipe sometime this winter. But for now, this is our go-to, healthier granola recipe. Enjoy!

Granola

Ingredients Needed:

• 4 cups old fashioned oats (I use organic)
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon (you can adjust spices to make things a fun flavor)
• 2/3 cup nuts (chopped works best) almonds, pecans, walnuts…
• 2/3 cups seeds pepitas, sunflower seeds, flax seeds…
• 1/2 cup oil, melted (I use coconut oil. Butter works too.) Avoid corn and seed oils!!
• 1/2 cup maple syrup (Honey works too, but makes things a bit stickier at the end- I often mix the two.)
• 2/3 cups dried fruit, coconut, chocolate chips etc (to be added after cooking and cooling)

Instructions:

• In a large bowl, add oats, salt, spice, nuts, seeds, oil, and sweetener.
• ***I find it helps to pour melted oil into measuring cup, emptying into bowl. Then use same cup for sweetener- this helps it all come out of the cup.
• Mix well.
• Pour onto parchment lined baking sheet!!! Do NOT miss this part.
• Bake at 350* F for 22 minutes, stirring halfway through.
• Cool completely on pan.
• Pour into lidded container, adding dried fruit etc as desired. Stir or shake well.
• Should keep at room temperature in lidded container for 1-2 weeks.

This granola is yummy in yogurt or as a breakfast cereal with milk! I even eat the larger chunks by themselves for a snack.

A few favorite flavor choices:

• apple and cinnamon (use chopped, dried apples)
• gingerbread (adding 1/2-1 tsp. ground ginger and leaving out the fruit)
• spiced (adding 1/2 tsp ginger and 1/2 tsp. nutmeg)
• maple nut (using 1/2 cup maple syrup and all one kind of nut, usually pecans)