Simple Homemade Granola

I very, very rarely post a recipe on here because, well, let’s just say if you ate my cooking you would not be asking me for recipes.  It’s all about burning food and underseasoning at my house.

But when I make meals for friends I often send along my homemade energy bars and then I get requests for the recipe.  I mean every time.  My friends are all, “What’s that recipe Lisa?!” and “I have GOT to have the energy bar recipe” or “I shared these with my mom and she’s threatening me to get the recipe or she’s taking me out of the will!”

But the problem is, I can’t give you the energy bar recipe without first telling you how we make the granola that is the main ingredient of the energy bars.  I think using homemade granola makes the bars so much better than using store bought granola (although you could!).

So today the granola recipe, then next week I’ll give you the energy bar recipe then I will go back to my regular stuff that is mostly useless information.

Lisa’s Homemade Granola

I try to use the freshest ingredients possible.  I buy my nuts in bulk and freeze them so I can get a better price.

1/2 C honey
1/2 C oil
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla
8 C oats (whatever kind you like)
1/2 C sunflower seeds
1/2 C chopped almonds
1/2 C chopped cashews
1/2 C chopped pecans

You can add dried fruit, or anything else you like in your granola.  Just keep the proportions the same.  So if you add 1/2 C raisins then take out 1/2 cup of nuts.  If we only have cashews, we just make it with lots of cashews…it’s very flexible.  Unlike me.

In a microwave safe bowl mix honey and oil then heat in microwave for 30 seconds.  Then add in cinnamon and vanilla, stir.

In a large bowl mix together the rest of the ingredients.  Then drizzle on the oil/honey mixture and stir until all of the dry ingredients are coated.  Pour into a 9×13 baking dish and bake at 300° for 30 minutes.  HERE IS THE KEY: stir well every 7-10 minutes to keep it from burning around the edges.

And oh your house will smell amazing!  As soon as it’s out of the oven my kids come running for a taste.  You can keep it in an airtight container for about 5 days, but ours never lasts that long. Not only do we use this in our energy bars, but we also eat it just like it is or over yogurt.  You will love this stuff!

Stay tuned next week for the energy bar recipe.

Happy eating!

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