Homemade Granola Cereal

We've battled illness, mine, Tink's and Hubby's for almost two weeks now and thankfully the boys have avoided it. I haven't been that sick but with taking care of a high energy child who is just sick enough not to take to her activities, has left me drained of energy or ambition for blogging or anything else. Please don't look too closely at the dusk piling up here!

We are all feeling better now and I had some desire to get back into the kitchen.

The boys bug me to make them more granola as soon as the last batch is gone. They have been less than happy that they have been without for about 3 weeks now.

I have a base formula from Prepared Pantry that I've adapted to my own use.

I always make a double batch because I have monster cookie sheets that came from a friends restaurant, so I have the room to bake that much granola. I'll share my single batch recipe with you.


Granola:

4 cups old fashioned oats
1/4 cup oat flour*
1/2 cup maple syrup or I make a syrup from 1/2 cup brown sugar and 2-3 tablespoons water
1/4 cup oil (I use melted coconut oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla
shredded coconut

I add in:
1/2 cup 7 grain cereal
1/4 cup wheat bran
1/8 cup flax seed meal

These are optional and you can add in whatever quantity suits you.

 This what how I make it for Hubby who shouldn't be eating nuts.

For the rest of us I add in:
1/2 cup almond slivers
1/2 cup chopped up walnuts


Preheat your oven to 300°

• Mix the dry ingredient together with nuts but not shredded coconut. 
• Mix together syrup, oil and vanilla in separate bowl. 
• Add the liquid into the dry and mix well. 
• Spread out on cookie sheet that is lined with parchment paper. You don't have to use parchment paper, I just prefer it because it keeps the cookie sheet clean.
• Bake for 25 minutes.
• Mix in the shredded coconut. This is also where I swap the cookie sheets in the oven.
• Bake another 12 minutes.
• Cool.
• Store in air tight container.

When I eat this as cereal, I add a couple handfuls of raisins. We have found that raisins don't taste as good after being cooked for so long. 

I love this on yogurt with a little bit of honey. YUM! 

What do you like to add to your granola?

*Oat flour can be made by just putting old fashioned oats into your mixer or food processor and blending to fine dust.  Did you know it's the same stuff those oatmeal bath soothing treatments are made of? I now dump oat flour into our baths to soothe our dried winter skin.