Every month or so, I mix up a BIG batch of my perfect granola.
I love it for so many reasons. It’s cheaper than store-bought granola, it’s much less sweet than store-bought granola, and it’s totally customizable! I love the simple flavours and the subtle sweetness of this recipe. I can’t imagine why I’d ever revert back to the sugar-drenched, preservative-filled boxed stuff.
As I said, this recipe is really flexible. There’s an easy base recipe to follow, and then you can add whatever nuts, seeds, and dried fruit you’ve got on hand. And, you can make it as sweet as you want by adjusting the amount of brown sugar. Trust me, you’ll understand my vendetta against store-bought granola when you taste this stuff!
Simple Cinnamon Granola
5 cups oats
2 cups rice crisp cereal
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup fruit puree (I used applesauce)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar (adjust more or less for desired sweetness – 1/4 cup makes for a very subtle sweetness, but feel free to jack up the sugar or go totally unsweetened if you wish!)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups chopped nuts (I used half almonds, half walnuts)
1 cup seeds (I used half pumpkin seeds, half sunflower seeds)
2 cups dried fruit (I used dried cranberries)
Preheat oven to 300F. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large (and I mean large!) bowl, mix together the oats, rice crisp cereal, cinnamon, salt, nuts, and seeds.
In a medium bowl, mix together the fruit puree, honey, brown sugar, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract.
Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients, and stir to combine. Make sure that all of the dry ingredients are evenly coated.
Spread the mixture out onto the two prepared baking sheets. (Use your hands to clump together pieces of granola, if you prefer your granola with more clusters!)
Bake for 20 minutes. Using a spatula, flip the granola so that everything is evenly toasted. Bake for another 20-25 minutes. (If you prefer chewier granola, take out of the oven around the 20-minute mark. For crispier granola, leave in a few minutes longer.)
Once cooled, add in the dried fruit and store in an airtight container. Enjoy!
yummy!!