Longing for Granola

I love to eat yogurt, fruit and granola for breakfast but ever since we took a trip to Big Bend, plain old granola just doesn’t cut. While in Big Bend, we stopped for breakfast and I had my dear old standby of yogurt, fruit and granola. But this time, the granola was homemade. Well, my hubby tells me that 500 miles is little far to go just to have breakfast. So, I have found the recipe below and will attempt to make my own homemade granola this week. There were many recipes out there…some complicated and some simple. I went for simple my first try and plan to make only one change by adding coconut…just because I love it.

Homemade Granola

Ingredients

4 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 F. In a bowl mix the oats, almonds, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. In a saucepan warm the oil and honey. Whisk in vanilla.

Carefully pour the liquid over the oat mixture. Stir gently with a wooden spoon; finish mixing by hand. Spread granola in a 15x10 inch baking pan.

Bake 40 minutes, stirring carefully every 10 minutes. Transfer granola-filled pan to a rack to cool completely. Stir in raisins or cranberries. Seal granola in an airtight container or self-sealing plastic bag. Store at room temperature for 1 week or in the freezer for 3 months.