Make your own granola!

Why buy granola when you can make your own? I made my own granola using a recipe from the Whole Foods website and mobile app, but one can modify it by adding different rolled grains, spices, sweeteners, nuts, and dried fruit.

 

Be careful, stir the granola often while it is baking; it can burn easily. Wait to add any dried fruit until after you have removed the granola from the oven. I enjoy my homemade granola with plain yogurt. 

A new cookbook of mine, D.I.Y. Delicious, also features a granola template with information on how one can include various ingredients. 

The recipe from Whole Foods I used is below.

Serves 6 to 8

All manner of dried fruits are delicious in this recipe. Try adding a handful of sliced dried apricots, dried cranberries or raisins to this filling morning mix. It's equally good eaten out-of-hand as a snack.

Ingredients

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
3 tablespoons oat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup slivered, blanched almonds
1/2 cup pure maple syrup or honey
1/3 cup sunflower oil or canola oil
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 to 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, or to taste
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Method

Preheat oven to 300°F.

Toss together oats, flour and almonds in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together maple syrup or honey, oil, almond extract, nutmeg and salt. Add to the oat mixture, stirring well to coat.

Spread mixture on a large rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake, stirring occasionally to break up lumps, until deep golden brown, fragrant and just dry to the touch, 30 to 40 minutes. Allow granola to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Nutrition

Per serving (about 3oz/84g-wt.): 370 calories (160 from fat), 18g total fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 45mg sodium, 43g total carbohydrate (5g dietary fiber, 15g sugar), 9g protein