Recipe: Granola

At my house, we love home-made granola...its great with yogurt or straight out of the jar. When I realized how easy it was to make, I tried many different recipes--all mostly good, but then I found the easiest recipe of them all--and in my opinion, it happens to be the best.    

Honey-Pecan Granola

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, combine 3 cups old-fashioned oats, 1 1/2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped, 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, 1/3 cup wildflower or orange blossom honey, and 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt; mix well to coat.  Transfer to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and spread in an even layer. Bake until oats are lightly golden, 30 minutes, stirring half way through.  Let cool completely on sheet. (Store in an airtight container at room temperature, for up to three weeks.)  Makes 4 1/2 cups.

(From Martha Stewart Everyday Food, October 2010.)

I add something different every time, but I always add 1/2 cup finely shredded coconut in with dry ingredients and this particular time, I also added 1/2 cup of pepitas.  But I do mix it up; using walnuts, hazelnuts, cinnamon, ginger, sunflower seeds, etc, etc.  AFTER the granola comes out of the oven and has cooled down, I mix in 3/4 cup dried fruit, like cranberries or raisins--never bake the dried fruit with the oats; they will burn and taste yucky...can you tell I speak from experience?

For my vegan friends, I bet you could absolutely substitute olive oil for the butter and agave syrup for the honey--just use a little less agave.  

Seriously delicious and it takes all of 10 minutes to make...so, so good...but don't take my word for it.  Here are the results from my official granola taste tester...