Awesome Granola Recipe!

Every now and then, I get a hankerin' for some home made granola!  With the new year underway, I also wanted to try and eat more whole foods like grains, fruits and nuts.  Don't be put off by the number of ingredients.  Most of them can be found in your pantry at any given time.  If not, make a trip to the store and stock up on them.  That way, you can make granola as often as you like.  One nice thing about making your own is that you can add only what you like.  It's easy to swap out one ingredient for another. 

After I made this granola for the first time, I found out that two of my ingredients made it on the "new trends for 2012" list.  Barley flour and chia seeds are popping up in a lot of recipes now.  Look for them in the healthy foods area of your grocery store.  I found my bag of chia seeds at Costco.  I keep it in the freezer to stay fresh.  Chia seeds are a great source of Omega 3's. 

My granola recipe makes a great after-school snack for the kids, too.  I hope you will give it a try.

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup of quick cooking oats

¼ cup of wheat bran

¼ cup of barley flour

2 Tablespoons of powdered milk

¼ cup of white sesame seeds

¼ cup of chia seeds

¼ cup of unsweetened coconut flakes

1 cup of nuts (I used ½ c. chopped pecans and ½ c. sliced almonds)

1 ½ cups of dried fruit (I used ½ cup each of dried figs, dried tart cherries and dried papaya)

Wet Ingredients:

½ cup of natural almond butter

¼ cup of canola oil

¼ cup of agave syrup

1 ½ teaspoons of butter vanilla

Heat the oven to 300 degrees.  Line a 12 ½” x 17 ½” baking sheet with non-stick foil or a silicone baking mat.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients.  Mix until well combined.  In a large sauté pan, combine all of the wet ingredients.  Stir on low heat for 2-3 minutes, or just until the almond butter has melted.   Pour the warmed mixture over the dry ingredients and mix until well coated.  Pour the granola onto the prepared baking sheet.  With a large spoon, spread it out evenly without packing it down too much.  Bake at 300 degrees for approximately 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.  Remove from the oven and let it dry and cool completely.  Break the granola up and store it in an airtight container.

NOTE:  The butter vanilla in this recipe is a product I buy from a cake decorating supply store.   It is a bakery emulsion flavoring.  Emulsions have a more potent flavor than regular extracts, and won’t “bake out” when exposed to heat.   If you don’t have it, you can substitute with pure vanilla extract, or even pure almond extract.

Happy Baking,

Pam