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This recipe is super yummy and so flexible! Below is our favorite cereal version, but there are many ways to tweak the recipe depending on your preferences. For the nuts you can put either all almonds or all cashews (or split them as listed below or even try a totally different type of nut). Also, the same thing works for the seeds – you can either put in all pumpkin seeds or all sesame seeds or put in half and half. You could easily play around with the amounts of sesame seeds and flaxseeds as well. If you can’t find unsweetened shredded coconut you can leave it out completely.
If you want granola cereal make it with rolled oats. If you want granola bars then substitute steel cut oats for the rolled oats, and I also like to add dried fruit bits before baking the bars. For the cereal, once it has baked and cooled completely, you want to put it in a gallon zip lock to break it up into small cereal pieces. If you are making granola bars just break off big chunks instead of using a bag. Don’t expect perfectly uniform rectangles for your granola bars – these are homemade after all!
- 3½ cups rolled oats (if you want bars use steel cut oats so it will stick together better)
- 1 cup raw sliced almonds
- 1 cup raw cashew pieces (or walnuts or pecans)
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (I could only find unsweetened at Earth Fare, which is similar to Whole Foods)
- ½ cup raw sunflower seeds
- ½ cup raw pumpkin seeds
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1½ teaspoons ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ cup honey
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Also need – parchment paper
- Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Cover a rectangular baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix the dry oats, almonds, cashews, coconut, seeds and spices together in a large mixing bowl.
- Heat the butter and honey together in a small saucepan over low heat. Once the butter melts stir in the vanilla and salt.
- Pour the hot liquids over the dry ingredients and stir together with a rubber spatula until evenly coated.
- Spread mixture onto prepared pan in one even layer. Bake for 75 minutes.
- The granola will become crisp as it cools at which point you can break into pieces (if making bars) or break it up into small chunks by pounding it in a zip lock bag (if making cereal). Store in air tight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
[...] As far as sports drinks go, the American Academy of Pediatrics reports that the life-threatening loss of electrolytes in kids who are active for fewer than four consecutive hours is exceedingly rare. That said, if your child is going to be active for long periods of time, and you’re worried about electrolytes, have them “refuel” or “recover” with food rather than the sports-drink or chocolate-milk sugar bombs. Options might include fruits, salted nuts, whole-grain pitas with their favorite spread or perhaps an easy, homemade, granola-style bar. [...]
[...] Aѕ distant аѕ sports drinks ɡο, thе American Academy οf Pediatrics reports thаt thе life-threatening detriment οf electrolytes іn kids whο аrе active fοr fewer thаn 4 uninterrupted hours іѕ awfully rare. Thаt ѕаіԁ, іf уουr child іѕ going tο bе active fοr prolonged durations οf time, аnԁ уου′re disturbed аbουt electrolytes, hаνе thеm “refuel” οr “recover” wіth food rаthеr thаn thе sports-drink οr chocolate-milk sugarine bombs. Options mіɡht embody fruits, pickled nuts, whole-grain pitas wіth thеіr favorite widespread οr maybe аn easy, homemade, granola-style bar. [...]
[...] As far as sports drinks go, the American Academy of Pediatrics reports that the life-threatening loss of electrolytes in kids who are active for fewer than four consecutive hours is exceedingly rare. That said, if your child is going to be active for long periods of time, and you’re worried about electrolytes, have them “refuel” or “recover” with food rather than the sports-drink or chocolate-milk sugar bombs. Options might include fruits, salted nuts, whole-grain pitas with their favorite spread or perhaps an easy, homemade, granola-style bar. [...]
First, thank you, Lisa for this recipe, I have been making granola for months now and love it! I am gradually trying to eat cleaner, but since my husband and I are both still in school it’s difficult on our budget. This recipe is a staple though. A few days ago someone asked a question here about doubling the oatmeal and nothing else. I thought I’d try it since nuts are the most expensive part of granola. I have a pampered chef large bar pan, which is like 15″ x 11″ or something. It’s big enough to do a batch and a half every time. So this time I used 1.5x the oatmeal, honey and almost as much butter and left the other ingredients the same. I really don’t notice a difference and after looking at it, I realized it looks more like granola you would by in the bulk bin. Now you know their secret haha! This morning for breakfast I paired it with the “berry sauce” recipe and homemade yogurt. This was my first time making the sauce and yogurt and it was AWESOME!
I looked for a yogurt recipe here since you homemake so many things but there isn’t one. It’s really not hard to make and is much better than store-bought yogurt. You can do it without a machine, but the machines are all over second hand stores for $5… That’s where mine came from!
Thanks again!