Granola

I make this almost every week. I eat it like cereal with almond milk, on top of yogurt with fruit or just by itself. No sugar or gluten. Great for you!

Dry Ingredients

4 cups oats, wheat or barley (or any combination)

1/2 cup sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup almonds, walnuts or other nuts

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup coconut (optional)

1/8 cup ground flax seed (optional)

Liquid Ingredients

1/2 cup honey, maple syrup (or a thick syrup made with 1/2 cup brown sugar and 2-3 T water)

1/4 cup of your choice of oil (I like safflower or coconut oil)

1 T vanilla or any other extract (I like almond)

Dried fruit

3/4 cup raisins or dried cranberries or cherries or papaya or apricots or create your own dried fruit combination (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all dry ingredients, except dried fruit, in large bowl.

In small bowl, mix sweetener, oil and extract. 

Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and stir well with a big spoon.

Spread on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

Turn with a spatula or stir. Bake another 10 minutes.

Remove from oven. Cool. Stir in dried fruit and store in an airtight container.

The great thing about this recipe is that you can add anything as long as you keep the dry/liquid proportions the same and it is sugar free (if you use honey or maple syrup as your sweetener). It’s also less expensive than store bought granola and you can adjust it to suit your taste.