Recipe: Basic Granola

Its funny what you find is important to you later on in life. I mean, its not like i’ve had all that much time to decide this, but i definitely can appreciate the simple truth that what you think as a child easily changes as you get older.

And so it is with granola. Other than spaghetti and meat balls (fake and meatless of course.. haha) on tuesdays and thursdays, there was no meal I hated more than granola. And I was even a huge cold cereal girl. Seriously… HUGE. I ate at least 6 bowls of whatever we happened to have on hand everyday before school. (I’m still trying to exercise it off.) But for some reason I just didn’t like granola. Probably because it was ‘healthy’. Eeewww, healthy!

So to make a long story, well, longer… somewhere between 3rd grade and what I suppose could be described as ‘adulthood’, I developed my love of granola. I eat it dry, I eat it on yogurt, I blend it up in smoothies (weird, i know… blame Jamba Juice for the introduction…), and sometimes I even eat it with milk (vanilla soy? haha). And here’s my fallback recipe. (Although I always seem to change it up a bit…)

Ingredients:
4 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
1 tsp vanilla (not imitation)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 can of frozen juice concentrate (yet thawed. I used apple this time. I’d recommend some blend like apple cranberry, but they only had apple at the supermarket…)

Materials:
Large Mixing bowl
Small mixing bowl
Large baking sheet

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Yes, this recipe requires patience. Can you believe “I” make it? haha

Mix the vanilla, salt, and thawed juice concentrate in the small mixing bowl. Mix the oats, coconut, and nuts in the large bowl. Mix together.

Spread out a thin layer of mix onto the baking pan. I split the batch in two, half on the first baking pan and then the rest the second time.

Leave the pan in for about 30 minutes, then pull the pan out. Push all the granola to one side of the pan and the spread it thinly out again. Break up any ‘clunks’ at this point. (Sometimes the fruit juice will be more prevalent in one spot and keep all the oats sticking together. Show it who’s boss.)

Another 20 minutes should do it. But to be sure, pull the pan out and let the granola cool about ten minutes. Just taste test it for the right texture. I like mine very crunchy, so if it doesn’t seem done enough, I stick the pan back in. But be careful, if you don’t let the granola cool and you do the taste test, it could fool you. When its warm it’ll seem soft and chewy, but when it actually cools it’ll be a lot harder. So make sure you really let it cool off a bit before you make the call.