Granola

There are tons of granola’s. We have tried a variety of them. The high end granolas are not cheap. So, I decided to make some from scratch. It has to be the easiest thing to make and much cheaper. It is also a great snack for kids. Personally, I am addicted to the stuff. A handful here, a handful there. By the end of the day, god knows what I have consumed. If you are inspired, here is a simple recipe.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

4 cups old-fashioned oats ( I bought mine at a health food store)
1 cup of rye oats (I got this at a health food store too)
3/4 c. pumpkin seeds
1 to 1 1/2 cups almonds chopped up

Put the top 4 ingredients into a large bowl and set aside. You can always add any other nuts that you like to this concoction.

1 cup apple juice, apple cider, orange juice or even grape juice. Your liking. I used orange juice because that is what was in the refrig.
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1 t. kosher salt ( always use kosher salt )
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1/4 cup. light brown sugar
3 T. canola oil

In a small sauce pan, boil the fruit juice down a bit. Maybe for about 3 minutes. Add in the rest of the ingredients above and combine thoroughly.
Remove from heat.

Take the liquid mixture and pour over the oats and mix thoroughly. Divide the mixture into separate into well oiled (extra canola oil here) baking pans. Bake until golden brown – about 40 minutes at 300 degrees. Stir every 15 minutes or so.

Transfer back into a large bowl and stir in dried fruits. I used cranberries, currants and sliced apricots. You could also use figs, toasted coconut, dried apples etc.

Put into a tupperware and this should last about 2 weeks or more.

Enjoy!