I finally made granola, yesterday, for the first time in my life and it came out pretty good. Not perfect – I’ll make a few adjustments next time – but it was certainly passable, easy to make, tastes decent, waaaaay healthier than boxed, fructose-corn-syrup-concoctions from Costco, and cheaper too.
I worked from a recipe I found online and modified somewhat per availability of ingredients. I mixed together rolled oats, barley, flax seed, wheat germ, walnuts, almonds, cashews, sesame seeds; cooked brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla extract and oil in a saucepan; mixed the liquid in with the dry stuff; baked in a couple of large pans, turning every 10 minutes or so; add dried cranberries after it cooled. Simple and good.
Had trouble finding rolled oats – everyone seemed to have instant oats only – but I finally went to a local health food store that was great, having the oats, barley and flax.
Also, I foolishly listened to my mom and ignored wookiee’s advice on the flax seeds. He had told me to grind them in a coffee grinder; she told me it’s not necessary. I think he was right. They’re not poisonous unground, or anything like that, but they’re very hard little seeds, so I suspect one only gets their highly-touted benefits if they’re ground first.
My recipe said to chop the nuts “finely” and I shouldn’t have obeyed that instruction. Bigger chunks would be better.
So, next time I’ll make those two minor adjustments, but in the meantime I’ve now got a shitload of granola to go through. 