My kids love to bake. It’s something they’ve done with me from a very early age, something I’ve encouraged because it is an incredibly good skill to have as an adult. Be able to make your own food? Yes, please. I want my kids to be self-sufficient.
This is not to say that I don’t have times when I’m all “You know, I’m just going to do this myself this time because…it needs to get done quickly/I’m a grump and don’t want to bite your head off/I just need to do it myself this time.” Don’t we all?
But when I make granola? This granola, this PERFECT granola, is not something I ever make alone because it is too kid-friendly, too much fun to help. I mean, there’s the opportunity to mix it with your hands and then lick off whatever is stuck to your fingers afterwards. Who wouldn’t love that?
Of course, it can all be mixed very civilly with a wooden spoon as well. The mixing-with-hands is just a bonus for those of us with littles around. (My littles are hard to call little anymore, but my two youngest, at 9 and 12, still love to dig their hands in every time.)
If you’ve never had homemade granola, you are in for SUCH a treat. It has so much more flavor than the stuff you find on the shelves in the grocery store. It’s fresh, crispy, and delicately crunchy. And best of all? You are totally in control of the flavor.
Don’t like coconut? Love cashews but dislike almonds? Want to make a peanut buttery granola? Use only the ingredients you like to make it whatever flavor you want. I LOVE that about this recipe. (And now I totally want to make a peanut buttery granola…hmmm I think that’s going on today’s to-do list.)
Granola has always been one of the things I’d rarely buy because (a) it’s so damn expensive for a teeny-tiny box and (b) it’s always waaaaay too sweet for me. You’d think I would have immediately been all, “Well, then, I’ll just make it myself,” but it actually took me years of occasionally buying overly sweet granola before I realized (a) I could probably make it better at home (because everything is better made at home) and (b) that it probably wasn’t hard to make.
Not hard to make is an understatement. It’s made with simple ingredients—things you likely already have in your cupboards—and is lickety-split to put together. Seriously. All you do is combine the dry ingredients, combine the wet ingredients, mix them together, then bake it. That’s it. Nothing more to see here, folks.
Anyone can successfully make this, this perfect granola. The fact that it is fully customizable to suit your particular taste preferences (or whatever you happen to have on hand) is perhaps the best thing you could ever ask for in a recipe.
A single recipe makes enough to fill one cookie sheet, but I always double it because it’s sooooo good. (Also, I have four kids. I double everything.)
After it’s done baking, let it cool completely before you transfer it to an airtight container. And then try—just TRY—to stay out of it.
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 4 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup nuts & seeds of your choice (ie. almond, peanuts, cashew, walnuts, sunflower seeds, sesame, poppy, ground flax seeds, etc)
- 1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (optional, add more nuts/seeds if skipping)
- 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup brown sugar (can add more or use less, according to your taste)
Wet Ingredients
- 1/2 cup oil, any kind (ie. coconut, canola, butter, etc)
- 1/2 cup maple syrup (could substitute with agave, honey, or other liquid sweetener)
- 2 Tablespoons nut butter (ie. peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, etc)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 F / 163 C. Lightly grease a cookie sheet and set aside.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and stir well. Combine the wet ingredients and stir/whisk until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix well.
- Spread the granola evenly onto the prepared cookie sheet, but do not pack down.
- Bake for 35 minutes until golden and dry, stirring the granola about halfway through. Let cool completely, then store in an airtight container.
This sounds and looks delicious. I want some. M
It’s the best granola EVER. <3