Granola Expedition

Granola Expedition

Are you hesitant about making your own granola? Not sure if it will turn out and then afraid that you would have to toss it? Or worried that when you looked up the recipe on the Internet you recognized half the ingredients were not budget friendly. Well stop worrying any further! I was in your shoes before now I am confident that I can inspire you to try my recipe. It uses flexible ingredients, relies on few ingredients, and can be kid friendly. (You can also make it with organic products.)

It was late at night and I was watching the Disney channel since it was left on. I saw this recipe info commercial. It had a Chef from Food Network mentoring a few Disney kid stars on how to make granola. I hadn't written it down but I was confident that I would find it on the Internet the next day. (No luck- it's a hard recipe to track down! Lizzie's Granola.) Instead I found similar recipes that caught my fancy plus with the visual demonstration from the Disney show I thought I could try.

Granola Expedition

2 1/2 cups of rolled oats

1/4 cup of olive oil (you can choose to use canola oil or whatever baking oil you have on hand)
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1/3 cup of corn syrup (or honey)

I also ground up a 1/2 cup of mixed nuts.

1 teaspoon of cherry extract (or vanilla)

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Toss all the ingredients listed into a bowl to stir together.

Spoon into a large rectangular glass dished.

Place in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. Stir.

Place back into oven for another 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

Remove from oven.

2nd Part: Prepare while granola mixture is in the oven.

Here's what I add my twist.
I had this leftover nut trail mix. I just got tired of eating it but didnt want it to go to waste.
So I decided to pick out the banana chips. Ground them up just a little to make it smaller pieces.
I removed the chunks of dried fruit and also ground those into smaller pieces.
Finally added the whole nuts.

Once the granola mixture is removed from the oven. Toss together to start the sugars cooling. Do it slowly for more chunks.

Tips:

More sugar in a mixture, more easier to burn.

Do not add in the nuts or dried fruit. They will burn or harden.

Enjoy and Have Fun Cooking!