An Easy Granola Recipe

Since the publication of this easy granola recipe, I've put together an extensive blogroll of great granola recipes. Feel free to take a look!
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I really wanted this to be another screed, this time against boxed cereal. But after my outburst on phony syrup last week, a few of my legally inclined readers strongly suggested I settle down for a little while. :)

So instead I'll share with you a pretty easy granola recipe that I've borrowed from a Wall Street Journal article (of all places for a granola recipe!), but then heavily adjusted and modified later. One batch of this will make the equivalent of two boxes of cereal--and it'll taste better, be healthier, and be a heck of a lot cheaper.

It's funny, because where I went to school, "granola" was a perjorative term for people that wore tie-dyed shirts, went heavy on the body hair and really got worked up about the environment. I guess these folks like granola and eat it all the time? I don't know--I just heard the name. Of course I would never use that term myself. :)

Anyway, it's just amusing and sort of ironic that now the Wall Street Journal is running granola recipes. Life just goes in circles, man.

Granola:
(adapted and heavily modified without permission from the Wall Street Journal)

Dry Ingredients:
4 cups oats (not quick oats)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup to 1-1/2 cups of nuts (unsalted almonds, walnuts or even peanuts are fine here)--[3/18/07: if you use peanuts though, use about 1/2 cup only. Otherwise the peanuts pretty much overwhelm the granola]
[Can also leave out nuts and add 1 to 1-1/2 cups raisins or other dried fruit, if desired]

Liquid Ingredients:
1/4 cup oil (corn oil or vegetable oil)
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (please don't let me catch you using the fake stuff here)

Mix dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
Place liquid ingredients into a small sauce pan and warm on a stove on medium low. Stir until combined.
Pour liquid mixture over dry ingredients and stir well until dry ingredients are coated.
Spread mix on a cookie sheet and bake at 325 for 30-40 minutes until golden brown, stirring every 10-15 minutes or so to prevent burning.

After you've cooked and cooled granola, keep it in a relatively airtight container so it won't get stale.

Enjoy!

Related Posts:
The Granola Recipe Blogroll

Fake Maple Syrup
Waffles!
How to Make a Perfectly Boiled Egg Every Time

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

You Ithaca hippie.

I had a girlfriend in college who used to make homemade spicy Chex-Mix with tabasco and peanuts and everything else. I haven't had it since. In a sudden rush of nostalgia, I want to make it for the Super Bowl. Looking forward to the casual kitchen version of that.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, cuz, for a good snacky recipe. I've been looking for something like this. Good, healthy, and cheap. Can't get much better than that.

Daniel said...

Holy COW Chex Mix and Tabasco!!! Brilliant! I'll get right on it. Thanks

Anonymous said...

You don't need permission -- a recipe can't be copyrighted. And the Wall Street Journal did not invent the recipe, I assure you. They got it from another source, which they probably credited.

Daniel said...

Thanks. And wait until you guys see what the recipe looked like BEFORE I got my hands on it and modified it.... Would have totally failed the "five easy questions" that's for sure. :)

Anonymous said...

I'm sure it's a good granola. It looks very basic and maybe that's the appeal. I wondered how to make a really chunky granola where there are large stuck together pieces. 1/2 teaspoon hardly seems like enough spice to me also. Only my opinion though and appreciate this site and being pointed to it.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, sounds great. How would you go about making this into 1 solid piece: granola bar style? Would it work to literally squash it together before baking? I have a freiend who does a very good job on a similar recipe with a potato masher...

Daniel said...

Hi Anonymous, thanks for your question. You could certainly try doing that to make it into bar form. Just be warned that this recipe probably makes too brittle a granola to hold together perfectly. If you're okay with it breaking up on you a bit, by all means try it!

DK

Yasmin said...

Wow! easy recipe. I'm baking granola right now and smell delicious already.. Thank you for sharing!

Daniel said...

Glad to hear it Yasmin. Enjoy!

DK

Mardi Michels said...

That is a GREAT granola recipe - printing it out right now!

Little Les said...

hey dan, trying your granola recipe today. i usually use aunt dorothy's recipe but don't have any powdered milk (and don't really want to eat powdered milk anyway)so trying this one...its only 105 here today, and I already weeded the garden so who cares if I heat up the kitchen a little. that's what air-conditioning is for.

Absoblogginlutely! said...

Thanks for the recipe - the granola is very moreish...
I'm allergic to nuts so used raisins instead. Some of them got a bit burnt in the cooking process so I was a bit cautious but it actually tasted really good. I also didn't have any honey so used the same amount of maple syrup - worked just as well.

I've grabbed some of your other cheap recipes and will be making them shortly.

Unknown said...

This looks good! Here's my fave from Alton Brown: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/granola-recipe/index.html

I tend to skip the coconut and change around the nuts, but otherwise it's a great recipe.

Anonymous said...

Just made this. It's outstanding! I skimped on the sugar, didn't measure the vanilla, and added almond extract... Yummm

Daniel said...

Thanks so much for the feedback!

DK

Anonymous said...

Just made this and it's so yummy. Thanks!