Going Granolafied

Apparently, I really am going granola. All this crocheting and crafting and bread baking and detergent making has pushed me over to granola making as well. I've made it for the second time this week - second time because the family GOBBLED up the first batch. When it comes down to it, I'm not 100% sure this is  cheaper than buying it at the store (recently, I've been buying the organic granola from costco at around $7 for a good sized box) I haven't actually sat down and figured out the price per cup but clearly the beauty of this is that I know exactly what I'm putting into it, which means I know exactly what the family is putting into their bellies. I also had bought oatmeal in bulk a while back and it hasn't been going as fast as I thought, so this is a good way to use that up.

I mainly drink almond milk - and personally I thought the granola was delicious with that. The almost 14 year old man-child who would be a junk food junkie if I allowed it absolutely loved this stuff - of course he decided he loved it enough to put it on top of a bowl of ice cream as well, but whatever ... I just keep cramming the word "moderation" down all of their throats. Poor eating habits have certainly hit home and I am bound and determined that these kids will take what they eat seriously before they reach full adulthood.

After scouring around on the internet, the recipe I finally landed on was this one I found at CDKitchen. It is beyond easy and best of all, it makes the house smell AMAZING - exactly like autumn should smell. I did make some slight adjustments - so here's my version of the recipe:

Ingredients:
4 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups sliced almonds
1 cup coconut
1/2 cup bran flakes
approx. 1/4 cup chopped nuts (I had a little bag partially used and just threw it in for the heck of it)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
approx. 1/3 cup veg. oil
approx. 1/3 cup honey (the recipe called for 1/4 cup of each of these, I went a little more since I put in more ingredients)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup raisins (I love raisins but my kids all fight against the raisin tide, so the adults end up eating them all anyway)

Preheat oven at 300.

In a bowl mix top nine ingredients. On the stove, warm up the oil and honey in a saucepan, don't let it boil, add in the vanilla. Rotating the dry ingredient bowl, slowly add in the honey mix. Pour on a baking pan. I used parchment paper for this and I highly recommend that - I don't think it would have turned out as well on just a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. If you like your raisins to have a slightly baked flavor, I'd add them in at this time (which I did) or if you like them totally raw, you add them in at the end. Bake for an additional five minutes. The original recipe calls for a full 40 minute bake time, but that was too long in my oven - you'll need to know your own oven here because I'm guessing you don't want charred granola. Set the baking pan on a cooling rack and cool completely - during the cooling process is when the granola clumps together so letting it cool completely is important (although, I did nibble on it during the cooling). And then seal it up in tupperware and watch it disappear - at least it did at my house!

Obviously, this is an easy recipe to make your own. I think next time I'll get some dried apples and use apple pie seasoning or I was thinking maybe pumpkin spice might be yummy to try in honor of pumpkin spice latte season. I'm just going to say, I'm good with being a little granola.