Tempt My Tummy with Granola

Tempt my Tummy Tuesday is a blog carnival co-hosted by sisters Lana and Lisa. Check them out for more recipes to tempt your tummy!

I have never participated in one of these before; however, as I was making granola this morning and anticipating how intoxicating it smells wafting through the house, how warm and cozy the house gets with the oven going (especially on this cold, cold day in the nearly frozen Great North), and how amazing it tastes SOOO (straight out of the oven), I thought I would share it with anyone who cares you guys.

To preface, this is a recipe I've been using for quite awhile. This is what I started with. With a few additions and substitutions, it has morphed into my *go-to* granola recipe. Feel free to make your own substitutions as well. Granola is very forgiving like that!

Granola

4 cups rolled oats

1 cup slivered/sliced almonds*

1 cup raw walnut pieces*

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut*

3/4 cup raw wheat germ (optional)

1/2 cup brown sugar (or sucanat)

1/2 cup maple syrup*

1/2 tsp black strap molasses

2 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup grape seed or coconut oil*

3/4 tsp coarse salt or less if using sea salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup dried fruit (like cranberries, blueberries, or cherries....raisins will work too)

1 cup semisweet or white chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 275ºF.

Combine first 6 ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly with your hands (it just works best that way, and it's fun for the kids too).

Add remaining ingredients (except dried fruit and chocolate chips) to another small bowl, and whisk.

Incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing well (with your hands) until it's evenly coated.

Pour onto 1-2 rimmed baking sheets, and bake 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes or so.

Let cool a bit, and mix in the dried fruit and chocolate chips.

*Notes:

Feel free to use other types of nuts. I've made this with pistachios, cashews, pecans, and they all taste great.

I lurve coconut, but my husband doesn't, so on rare occasions (very, very rare occasions), I have been known to make this sans coconut.

When it comes to oil, I prefer to use grape seed or coconut oil for cooking because they don't break down as quickly in higher temperatures. In salads, olive oil is fab. Generally, I avoid canola oil because it's genetically modified. Even though you aren't really baking the granola at a high temperature, grape seed is usually what I have on hand, so that's what I use. Any mild-tasting oil works fine in this recipe (safflower, sunflower, etc) though.

Liquid sweeteners...so, I usually try to use homemade maple syrup because pure maple syrup is just not in the budget right now, and I can't bring myself to buy the fake stuff that's nothing but high fructose corn syrup. I've also used brown rice syrup, honey, or agave nectar. Today, I used a mixture of maple syrup (homemade) and honey to equal 1/3 cup, and added a little extra oil and molasses. Excellent!

And, as Julia Child would say, Bon Appetit (Forgive me; I just saw Julie & Julia.)!