Homemade Granola

I'm not sure if I shared the recipe before, but I have a great, really easy, inexpensive recipe for granola. It is super fast too, you don't have to bake it at all. You're getting the modified Sara Funk version, but here it is.

Homemade Stovetop Granola:

• 2 Cups Old Fashioned Oats
• 1 Tbs oil
• 1/4 Cup of wheat germ
• 1/4 Cup of butter (half a stick)
• 1/3 Cup of brown sugar
• 2 Tbs honey
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/3 Cup of slivered or chopped almonds
• 1/3 Cup of dried cranberries
• 1/8 Cup of flax seeds

Get all your ingredients together

 Then heat the oil in the pan over medium/high heat until hot. Add the oats and wheat germ, stirring very often. You are browning the oats. Not too long, you don't want them to burn. It is about 5 minutes..ish. You'll have a great oaty smell while they are cooking. After finished browning, spread the oats on a cookie sheet.

While the oats are cooling, melt the butter in the same pan. Once completely melted, add the brown sugar, cinnamon, and honey. If you use the tablespoon leftover from measuring the oil for the honey, the honey will come right out and not stay stuck in the measuring spoon. Stirring constantly, heat that on medium/low until it is bubbling.

Add the oats back in and stir it up. Then add the dried cranberries, almonds, and flax seeds. Continue mixing and allowing the granola to cook for about 5 more minutes. Then spread on the cookie sheet to cool.

I cover the cookie sheet with parchment paper because it makes for easy clean up and no stickyness at all on the cookie sheet. The more you spread out the granola, the less "hunky" it will be. Unless you like the large chunks, then leave it clumped together while cooling.

I just clean everything up while the granola is cooling. If you spread it pretty thin, it cools fast. When making this recipe it helps to kind of measure everything else out before hand so you can just dump it in the pan. I have burned the granola before and burned granola just doesn't taste good, so now I measure everything out before I start making the granola so it is within easy access that I can just dump in the pan when I need it. And any of these measurements could be played with or you could add things you like, such as walnuts, raisons, nutmeg or cloves, more or less butter/sugar. I want to try making this next time with less brown sugar and more honey. I might try agave nectar sometime as well and decrease the butter. Play around with it to suit your taste. The wheat germ and the flax seeds are my addition to the recipe.

Put it in an airtight container after it has cooled. If you put it in the container while there is just a little warmth in it, you get softer granola. If you let it completely dry and sit out for a little longer, you will get crispy granola. All personal preference.

We use this granola for snacking and for on top of yogurt. I love yogurt and granola, for dessert, breakfast, a snack, you name it! I keep frozen blueberries in the freezer and take just a little out when I want them, defrost them, add some yogurt and sprinkle this granola on top. Yum! Enjoy!