Homemade Granola

       Granola. Mmm. Crunchy. Healthy - yet delicious. Endless possibilities. You literally could throw anything in it, and it would probably still turn out irresistible. You could also make it extremely unhealthy, if you're not into that whole low-fat thing. 

      My favorite granola is my own chocolate peanut recipe, thrown together one day when I was jonesing bad for something sweet, salty, and crunchy. I had some oats, chocolate chips, salty peanuts, and honey on hand - and voila! I admit, I nearly downed the whole batch all by myself. To this day if anyone wants some, they need to fight me for it - I love it that much.

      Unfortunately, today I didn't have ingredients on hand for my old standby, so I went with some basics I had in the cupboard. Turned out sooo good! Attatched is a basic granola recipe, along with what I used for today's batch.

Basic Granola

2 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup nuts (I used cocoa roast almonds)

1/2 cup dried fruit (i.e. raisins, cranberries)

1/4 cup honey (or agave, even corn syrup)

2 tbsp. oil, such as canola

1/2 tsp salt

Extras (flaxseed, wheat germ, sunflower seeds)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a bowl, mix together ingredients. Add more honey if you want a clumpier granola, or for extra sweetness. Spread granola onto cookie sheet or sheet of foil and place in oven. Turn oven to 325 degrees. Bake until golden and crunchy - approx. 45 mins.

       I'd recommend eating granola with some greek yogurt and berries, or with milk on top. Maybe even on oatmeal. Or - if you wanna get real creative, use it as a topping for apple crisp or berry crisp! Like I said, endless possibilities! 

And I promise, one day I shall post my magic granola recipe... Until then :)