Easy and Versatile Homemade Granola

My husband LOVES granola. I grew up with my mom making homemade granola, and when I got married I was aghast at the price of granola! It's outrageous! So I asked my mom for her recipe. I've made some changes to the recipe through the years, but that's the awesome thing about it-- it's very fail-proof. If you have different taste than me, you can change things up, and you'll still get a great outcome!

I always make twice the recipe, but I don't double it. I don't know if that makes sense, but I make the complete recipe on 2 different cookie sheets, but bake them at the same time. I've found that actually doubling the recipe, and then trying to split it between 2 pans can turn out in some oats that aren't coated in the oil and honey.

Preheat the oven to 300°.

On each cookie sheet mix (don't worry about mixing this really well):
4 cups of Old Fashioned Oats
1 1/2 cups of Nuts (sliced Almonds, chopped Pecans or Walnuts, whatever you like)
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 cup Brown Sugar

I used 1 1/2 cups Pecans in the pan on the left, and 1 1/2 cups Walnuts on the right

If you want, you are welcome to add some other ingredients at this point. Some of the ones we use are flax seed, raw sunflower seeds, or wheat germ.

Then, in a small pan mix together:
1/4 cup Oil
1/4 cup Honey
Cook over low heat. You just want it to melt the honey, so it only takes a couple of minutes.
Once the honey has melted, add
1 teaspoon Vanilla
Try to mix these together, but know that they separate. So you'll want to quickly whisk them together (just with a spoon or spatula) and then pour them over one of the Oat Mixtures.

I try to focus on the outside edges of the Oat Mixture, because they are the hardest to incorporate later. Just pour the Honey & Oil Mixture on- you will be mixing it in better later, so don't worry about that.

Make another Honey & Oil Mixture if you are doing 2 of this recipe, and pour it over the other pan.

Put the pans in the center of the oven for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes, take it out and mix it really well. Focus on pulling the edges in to incorporate the Honey & Oil mixture thoroughly. Then push the Oats back down sort of flat.

Put the pans back in the oven for another 10 minutes. If you had to put them on separate racks, switch them, so they get evenly browned. After the 10 minutes, mix again, and put back in the oven for another 20 minutes (if you had to switch the pans before, go ahead and switch them again at 10 minutes).

So after a total of 40 minutes of baking, take the pans out and let them cool.

You can eat the granola plain, with milk or yogurt, however you like. I usually sprinkle dried fruit (Craisins, chopped dried mangoes, dried blueberries) on my bowl of granola. The great thing is that you can make this however you and your family like it. It's very versatile!

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