Granola

Do you love granola, but hate the cost and all the preservatives in the store-bought varieties?  Why not make it yourself?  A vegan friend of mine shared a very easy recipe with me, and I have played around with the recipe quite a bit.  At first, I mixed 2 cups of rolled oats (not instant), ½ cup honey or agave nectar, cinnamon, and clove in a bowl.  Then, I lined a cookie sheet with aluminum foil or wax paper.  I set the oven to 450 degrees and spread the oat mixture out on the cookie sheet.  I baked the granola for 7 minutes, then stirred it around, then baked for another 7 minutes.  Make sure you watch the granola, because it can burn easily.  The result was a bit more of a crumble than clusters or bars, but it was quite tasty along with vanilla yogurt.

My husband wanted granola which was a bit more like a bar, so I used peanut butter and jelly.  I used 2 cups of oats again, one cup of peanut butter, and about ¼ cup of strawberry kiwi rhubarb jelly that I picked up from the farmer’s market.  I used a smaller cookie sheet, sprayed my hands with cooking spray, and used my hands to spread the mixture out on the cookie sheet.  I baked it at 400 degrees for 7 minutes, then, I put a second layer of aluminum foil over the granola, quickly flipped the cookie sheet over, and placed the granola back on the cookie sheet.  I figured that was a good way to flip it over without breaking the mixture into pieces.  I baked it for 7 more minutes and set it on a cooling rack.  It turned out great!  The picture shown is this concoction. 

I have also used nuts and dried fruits with other batches.  A tip with fruit is to add it during the second 7 minutes.  Otherwise, it can get too dried out.