Kids Dish

The yogurt I get through my CSA is incredible. It’s made from the milk of pastured Jersey cows and it’s delicious, better even than baby yogurt. One of my favorite ways to enjoy yogurt is with granola and fresh berries. But at more than four dollars a box at the grocery store, I haven’t been buying much granola lately. Something had to be done. I looked up and experimented with a few different granola recipes so I could enjoy my yogurt fully.

Basic granola is made from a baked mixture of oats, nuts, and seeds. It’s very easy to make and unless you’re careless and forget to take it out of the oven (not that I have first hand knowledge of that or anything) it’s really hard to screw up. All you have to do is mix the stuff together and bake it at a low temperature stirring occasionally until it’s lightly browned. Buying the ingredients separately at the grocery store is expensive, but you’ll definitely get more for your money than you will buying a box. Buying the ingredients from the bulk bins at a health food store is your best bet.

I’ve made several batches of granola now and haven’t yet committed to a recipe. The first tray of granola I made using applesauce and honey as sweeteners wasn’t quite sweet enough. The next few batches with maple syrup and honey were a little to maple-y. I think there’s a perfect balance out there somewhere, and I’m happy to keep trying granola recipes until I do.

Here’s my basic recipe for granola. It makes about ten cups.

5 cups rolled oats
2 to 3 cups raw nuts- I use a mixture of chopped pecans, slivered almonds and cashews
1 cup sunflower seeds
¾ cup sesame seeds
1 cup unsweetened coconut
1 tsp. salt

Wet ingredients:
¾ cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/3 cup maple syrup
¼ cup honey
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Dried fruit (added after baking)
1 cup of fruit of your choice. I use raisins, craisins, dried cherries, blueberries, apricots, apples and whatever other dried fruits I have on hand.

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Stir wet ingredients together, pour over the dry ingredients and mix well. Spread the mixture over two baking sheets and bake in a 300 degree oven for 35-40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Stir in the dried fruit and let cool. Store in the refrigerator in a large ziploc bag or airtight container.

There’s a lot of room for improvisation in this recipe. What do you like in your granola?