Recipes: Crunchy Granola

Today I wanted to share my basic granola recipe! For about $20 you can make about 9 cups and change the recipe to include your favorites! This great snack can be cheap to make depending on the ingredients you use. Nuts and honey are the most expensive bits in my variation. My favorite ingredients in granola are dried fruit, like dried apples and cranberries, and toasted coconut.

I like having granola and yogurt for breakfast. To switch it up I will also each it with milk like cereal. I use about 1/2 cup each day so this recipe lasts me about a month. I also pack it for snacks during the day. Granola is also a great snack to take on a road trip. Check out my recipe below to make your own!

Recipe: Crunchy Granola

Total Time: 1  1/2 hour
Prep Time: 30 minutes           
# Servings: 9 cups           
Cost: ~$20

Ingredients:

1 cup mixed nuts

2 cups oatmeal (quick oats)

1 cup dried cranberries 

1 cup puffed rice

1 cup coconut flakes 

1 cup honey 

1/2 tspn ginger 

Sprinkle nutmeg 

1/4 tspn all spice 

1/2 tspn cinnamon 

1/2 tspn salt 

Materials: 

Baking (cookie) sheet, parchment paper, large mixing bowl, stiff spoon or spatula, way to chop nuts (food processor or knife and cutting board), small pot to heat honey, offset spatula or butter knife and an airtight container for storage. 

Instructions: 

1. Chop the nuts to the desired size, example majority are finely chopped and the remainder roughly chopped 

2. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper 

3. Add the chopped nuts and the oats to the cookie sheet. Mix the nuts and oats then spread into an even layer

4. Bake the nuts and oats for 30 minutes at 350F

5. While the nuts and oats bake, heat the honey to a simmer

6. Put the hot nuts and oats into large mixing bowl. To nuts and oats add cranberries, puffed rice, coconut flakes, and all  spices but the salt. Mix ingredients in bowl till evenly mixed. 

7. Add hot honey to ingredients in the bowl and mix thoroughly 

8. Spread the mixture evenly onto the parchment paper lined baking sheet. 

9. Bake the granola at 350F for a minimum of 10 minutes, checking every 10 to 5 minutes for the desired color. 15-20 minutes created medium toasty colored granola. 25 minutes will create dark toasted granola. 

10. When the granola comes out of the oven it will be soft. Sprinkle the salt evenly over the granola. 

11. Mix the granola every 20 minutes until completely cool, It will harden as it cools. When completely cool store in an airtight container. 

Thanks for reading! Enjoy making your granola, comment below with the ingredients you used to make the recipe your own! 

Link to Download Recipe via Google Docs