Homemade Granola

The house is starting to fill with the warm aroma of toasting granola: roasting nuts, oats, cinnamon, brown sugar, and a hint of vanilla.

I used to travel about 40 miles to Ann Arbor regularly to pick up granola from the local Great Harvest Bread Company. It was $6.50 a pound, and very very good. But when I add in gas and time, etc..., and the fact that they use pecans (which are not my favorite), it seemed a bit extravagant. I decided to try making my own after watching a "Good Eats" episode on oats. I love watching "Good Eats". Alton Brown is always amusing, and the science he uses to explain the way recipes work is usually spot on, and well presented.

But back to the great smell in my kitchen... I start with Alton's recipe, and make a few modifications:

Alton Brown's Granola:

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup cashews
3/4 cup shredded sweet coconut
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, coconut, and brown sugar.
In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, oil, and salt. Combine both mixtures and pour onto 2 sheet pans. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to achieve an even color.
Remove from oven and transfer into a large bowl. Add raisins and mix until evenly distributed.

The result: toasty sweet crunchy goodness.

I've tweaked Alton's recipe to suit my tastes a bit more. My modifications to Alton's Recipe are below:

Instead of two cups of nuts (almonds and cashews), I go with three cups of mixed nuts and seeds (cashew pieces, almonds, sunflower seeds, pine nuts, sesame seeds).

I substitute honey for the maple syrup.

I use golden raisins (3/4 cup) and dried cranberries (3/4 cup) instead of regular raisins.

I add 1 tsp of vanilla extract, and 1 tsp of cinnamon.

I cannot get my granola to hold together like a bar, which I would like, as I eat as a snack instead of as cereal, but I'm thinking that using butter instead of oil and adding some wheat germ might bind it together better. I should also lay the granola out on parchment paper when I bake it and let it cool in the tray... that might help as well. If I let it cool in the pan now, it'll have to be chipped out with a chisel (brown sugar, don't ya know).

Anyhow, try either recipe...they're certainly "Good Eats" as well as good for you (whole grains, nuts, seeds).