I received a wonderful gift of homemade granola from my friend, Brie. The granola came in a canning jar with a piece of fabric over the top, secured with a bow. So simple and so delicious. I love gifts that are handmade and homemade, whether they’re knitted, baked, beaded, harvested or hot-glued. This holiday season I’ll be taking Brie’s idea and her amazing granola recipe and giving gifts from my kitchen.
Note: The dry ingredients can be purchased in most grocery stores’ bulk food section, so you can buy an assortment of nuts and dried fruits in the quantities that you want.
Granola
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 5 cups oats (bigger oat the better)
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 2 Tbsp cinnamon
- 3 tsp any spice (I used pumpkin pie spice- you can use what you have on the shelf- allspice/cloves/nutmeg/cardamom)
- 1 cup sliced almonds
- ¼ pumpkin seeds
- ¼ sunflower seeds
- ¼ chopped walnuts
- ¼ chopped cashews
- (omit or add any nuts for a combo of 2 cups- depending on nut preference)
Wet Ingredients:
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
- 1 Tbsp molasses
- 1 cup almond butter (microwave for 30 seconds-1 min until slightly melted)
- ¼ cup agave syrup or maple syrup
- ¼ cup canola oil
1½ cups dried fruit of choice (cranberries, raisins, apricots, cherries, etc.)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix dry ingredients in large bowl.
- Mix wet ingredients in separate bowl, then pour over dry ingredients and toss well to coat. Spread on parchment paper or tin foil on jelly roll pan and break up any large clumps. Bake for 20-25 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes until golden brown.
- After 15 minutes in the oven, add 1.5-2 cups of dried fruit of choice and stir to combine. (I use dried cranberries)
This was surprisingly amazing. I was expecting it to be terrible, because granola is typically terrible, but I think I might make this all the time now.