Healthy Homemade Granola

I'm not a big cold cereal eater.  But granola?  I love granola.  Especially the healthy, homemade kind :)

Crunchy, chewy, complex, almost buttery - there's nothing I don't love about it.

My mother-in-law has been making a granola she calls "summer cereal" since my husband and his brother were boys and I finally wrote down the recipe a few weeks ago.  Guess what?  It's super easy and makes a boatload, so for very little effort you can have containers full of granola just waiting to be gobbled up.

I adapted the ingredients a little from the original to add in some extra healthy seeds, and you should feel free to tweak the recipe to suit your tastes too.  Take the add-ins I list here as suggestions but use whatever nuts, dried fruit, and seeds you love.  Next time I make it I think I'll add some pecans and walnuts too and maybe some dried tart cherries.

One suggestion - if you do want to add dried fruit, it's better to stir that in after baking or the fruit gets a little scorched.

I love granola with yogurt and fresh fruit or a small bowl with some dried fruit and almond milk.  It's so tasty and satisfying, I really have to force myself to only eat one serving a day.  My family could easily blow through one of these batches in a couple of days if we didn't make ourselves stop.  It's that good.

Healthy Homemade Granola

Ingredients

5 c. old fashioned oats

1/2 c. sunflower seeds

1/2 c. pumpkin seeds

1/2 c. white sesame seeds

1/2 c. black sesame seeds

1 c. wheat germ

1 c. shredded coconut

1c. sliced almonds

1 c. nonfat dried milk

1 c. vegetable oil (grapeseed, canola or safflower all work)

1 c. honey

Preheat oven to 300º.

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.  Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet.

Bake 15 minutes, then stir and bake another 15 minutes.  Give a stir after removing from the oven, then let cool in the pan.  Store in airtight containers.

Click HERE for a printable recipe.

You can find more healthy breakfast ideas on my Breakfast page, like Multigrain Pancakes, Double Blueberry Almond Scones, and Healthy Huevos Rancheros.