All these years of store-bought granola have finally come to an end. Nothing compares to homemade granola, if only the satisfaction of knowing you made it yourself. Naturally, I went straight to America's Test Kitchen: Cooks Illustrated, to take out all the guess work. I then modified the recipe a bit, as far as the assortment of nuts used (ie what I found in the freezer), oh and I cut down on the amount of cinnamon. And I add dried cranberries only when serving it up.
See process pictures below recipe.
Ingredients
⅓ cup maple syrup zest of an orange 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon ⅓ cup packed light brown sugar (feel free to cut back on this if you feel it will be too sweet) 4 teaspoons vanilla extract ½ teaspoon salt ½ cup vegetable oil
5 cups old-fashioned rolled oats 2 cups nuts of your choice, chopped (I used my handy Pampered chef food chopper but you can do it by hand 🤔)
Method
Heat oven to 300°F.
Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mix maple syrup, orange zest, cinnamon, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in large bowl. Stir in the oil. Fold in oats and nuts until thoroughly coated.
Empty mixture onto lined baking sheet an spread in an even layer. Using stiff metal spatula (I used the bottom of a 1/3 cup measuring cup) to compress mixture until very compact.
Bake until lightly browned, about 45 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Note:Keep an eye on the color as it is easy to burn the edges depending on your oven (this is why I reduced the cooking temp to 300°F instead of 325°F in the original recipe.
Remove baking sheet from oven and cool on wire rack for about 1 hour. Break up cooled granola and store in an airtight container.Granola can be stored this way for up to 2 weeks. I put most of it in a Ziploc bag in the freezer as we only use a little for yogurt in the mornings.
Serve over yoghurt or with milk as cereal.
I used almonds, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pistachios, and walnuts!!
Mixing the ingredients before adding oats and nuts
Ready to pop in the oven
