June 17, 2010

Day Late Humpastry Day - Homemade Granola

Welcome new followers!  I cannot believe I have over 90! Woohoo!  I'm hoping to make it around to your blogs soon, if you have one, but I'm just having a hard time keeping up with it all this week!  Hopefully I'll be back on track soon. :)
Homemade Granola:
Where are the days going?  I seriously thought today was Wednesday.  So, when my alarm for my Masters Swim class went off this morning at 5AM I was really confused for awhile.  Until I realized what day it actually was.  I think between getting things put away from our camping trip and getting ready for my oldest son's birthday party this weekend, my mind has just been a frazzled mess!  

So, without further ado, I bring you a delicious and healthy recipe for homemade granola.  I've had this in my recipe box for a long time and I have no idea where the original recipe came from.  I wish I could take credit for it because it is really good.  It is super easy to make and will stay good up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.  Plus, it will save you mucho dinero making it yourself instead of buying granola from the store.

Ingredients:
Makes about 5 cups of granola (serving size is 1/2C)
*  2/3C packed light brown sugar
*  1/3C unsweetened apple sauce
*  2C old-fashioned oats
*  1/2C chopped almonds
*  1/4C ground flaxseed
*  2/3C nut-like cereal (I just realized I forgot this in the picture..oops!)
*  2/3C dried cherries (you can use any dried fruit that you prefer, but I think cherries and almond extract go really well together)
*  1/2C green pumpkin seeds (toasted pepitas)
*  1/2tsp. cinnamon
*  1/4tsp. almond extract
*  1/8tsp. salt

Directions:
1.  Combine all ingredients except sugar and cider in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
2.  In a large nonstick skillet, combine the sugar and cider.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook for 2-3 minutes, until sugar is dissolved.
3.  Stir in all of the other ingredients and cook 5 more minutes, stirring frequently, until granola is lightly browned.  I love this step because it smells so good while it's cooking!  Yum! 
4.  Transfer to a large cookie sheet sprayed with nonstick spray or lined with parchment paper.  **Note:  My father-in-law gave me the coolest thing!  It's called a Silpat and you can use it in place of parchment paper for all your baking/cooking.  It is nonstick and cleans up really easily.  You can see it in the picture underneath the granola.  The best part is that I don't have to buy parchment paper because I can just reuse the Silpat over and over again!  (Another way to be "green") :)  
5.  Let granola cool completely.
6.  Break it apart into pieces and store in an airtight container.
8.  Eat as cereal with milk, mixed with yogurt, as a snack, or eat it right off the cookie sheet!  This stuff is soooo good! :)

17 comments:

KC (my 140 point 6 mile journey) said...

You have the best recipes and what makes them even better is that they are EASY. I'm all about easy, quick, not too many bowls or cleaning up to do. I still need to go back to your lara bar recipe and make those one day soon.
I hope you are feeling less frazzled now :)

DRog said...

Looks good! What a rockstar you are 90+ followers:) I'm impressed again at your cooking abilities...mainly that you squeeze it in with training, kids, life, etc etc
Have a great wknd
-DR

teacherwoman said...

That looks so yummy!

Jon said...

Woo hoo! JUST what I was hoping you would post. Silpats are AWESOME. They come in different sizes too!

Caratunk Girl said...

Oh man, that looks awesome! Yeah for humpastry day! I didn't know about Slipats! I want to try one!

Regina said...

I think I love you...ha

Melissa said...

Okay. Now I MUST make this. Looks so good!

Julie said...

Hi Aimee,
I look forward to your recipe posts:) Another one for the books! Congrats on the 91 followers!

jessithompson said...

OMG... you are making me sooooo hungry!

misszippy said...

Excited to try this recipe. Looks great.

Suzy said...

Mmmmm, this sounds wonderful!

Tri-James said...

Looks like I will be making some granola this weekend!

JC said...

that looks tasty! Happy weekend!

Emz said...

OHHHHHH MAN. This looks killer.

awesome! way better than oatmeal when it's 120 degrees here! ;)

Thanks!!

Tricia said...

yum, thanks for sharing!

Patrick Mahoney said...

I see granola from a higher power, however one chooses to designate. I love it.

Chef Amber Shea said...

Ack, I destroyed my Silpat in the dishwasher; you've reminded me I need another!