Honey Almond Granola

Honey Vanilla Roasted Almond Granola

Growing up, my parents homemade all things carb. My dad was responsible for baking fresh bread and making pasta, and my mother made all the quick breads, pie crusts and granola. 

It wasn't until college when granola finally became "cool" that I requested the recipe from my mother. She referred me to More With Less Cookbook and told me that the recipe allowed great liberty as long as you have "dry" and "wet" ingredients. Over the years I've experimented a lot. Here is the variation that's currently circulating our home.

Dry Ingredients

6 c. of old fashioned oats

½ c. raw sliced almonds

1 c. dry roasted almonds 

pinch of salt (sea salt or kosher)

1 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. coconut (optional)
1/4 c. flax and/or wheat germ (optional)

  

Wet Ingredients

1/3 c. canola oil (coconut oil = DELISH)

splash of milk/water (I used almond milk)

splash of vanilla (I like a lot)

1/3 c. brown sugar

1/3 c. honey

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. On the stove, mix the wet ingredients on medium low continually stirring. When mixed, evenly pour the wet ingredients into your dry ingredients bowl and stir immediately—mixing it together really well. At this point, I threw in another cup or oats or so because I prefer not to have clumps in my granola. It’s completely personal preference.

Spread some of the mixture thinly on a cookie sheet. Make sure that it lies flat. Bake for 15 minutes (depending on your oven and the darkness of your pans) or until the granola starts to brown. During this time, take a wet towel and drape it over the top of your mixing bowl; it will help the uncooked granola keep from drying out.

After you’ve taken the granola out of the oven, allow it to completely cool by dumping it onto a sheet or a piece of cardboard. When it's cooled, put in a container and store in the freezer. It will retain that crisp, crunchy freshness for months.

**note: I usually make this with a whole canister of oats. If that's what you're feeling, simply double the recipe. Walah!

Enjoy!