Homemade Vanilla Cinnamon Berry Granola/ Basic Granola Recipe
I've really gone granola. I'll never wear Birkenstocks, though. However, I do make this every day staple for breakfast for just a few dollars. Have you tried to buy granola at the store? It's usually loaded with toxic crap and $8/pound. No thank you. With just a few ingredients and simple steps, you can make your own granola that is much cheaper and better for your body.
FOOD!COOKING AND CRAFTING
I began baking at the age of six. I used to get blackberries from the thicket behind our house in Oregon. Since those days, the kitchen is the most used room in our home, next to our laundry room. Because laundry never ever never ends (it's the fourth constant in life).
But, really, you don't care about any of this. I'm sure you clicked on my page to get a really awesome granola recipe that you can modify as you wish, without scrolling through a shit ton of ads or allll the way down some uninteresting story to retrieve. Okay, here it is.
I purchased the ingredients from Amazon Prime. The cost-effective nature and quality of dried fruits proved better online. I inserted the brands I found. Kirkland brand also has a wonderful variety of dried fruits.
Basic Ingredients:
3 cups rolled oats (regular, not steel cut)
2/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup honey
Additions:
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dried blueberries
1/2 cup dried cherries (can substitute dried cranberries, raisins, or any other dried fruit)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Select a shallow rectangular pan to bake in.
2. Mix the basic ingredients together.
3. Add in additions you wish (and mix).
(blueberries alone with vanilla and cinnamon, or blueberries with cranberries).
4. Prepare the baking pan.
(I do this by by oiling the sides for non-sticking, or using a sheet of parchment paper)
5. Add granola mix to baking pan. Put in oven and bake at 325 for 30 minutes.
6. Examine if baked well enough. This is perhaps the hardest part.
The granola should appear golden baked, browned but not burned. Put in for up to 20 minutes longer if needed. It should smell like baked honey appear as so:
This is great with greek yogurt and added maple syrup, the real kind. It is more filling than granola alone. However, all of this is meaningless unless you have at least four cups of coffee to wake your drowsy butt up.
Coffee. Because I couldn't tolerate anyone without it.
