Stirring it up:

Our guests love this granola. It takes little time to prepare and packs a good measure of fiber into your daily diet. Granola is great sprinkled on fruit, eaten as breakfast cereal or used  as a topping for a fruit crisp or ice cream!

Very Yummy Granola

• 4 cups oats (not quick oats)
• 1 cup corn flakes
• 1 cup grape nut flakes
• 1 cup coconut
• ¾ cup chopped walnuts
• ¼ cup pine nuts
• ¼ to ½ cup real maple syrup or honey
• ¼ cup oil
• 1 cup chopped dates
• ¾ cup golden raisins
• ¾ cup Craisins

Mix all dry ingredients together in big a bowl, except raisins, craisins and dates and any other dried fruit you use—they will be added later.

Mix liquids together and pour over dry ingredients.

Stir well until completely moistened.

Spread evenly on a large jelly roll pan which you have lined with parchment paper or very lightly sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake in 350°F oven for about 25 minutes, but keep an eye on it as it will go from toasted to burnt, quickly.

Stir 3 or 4 times during cooking – this is important so that the oats toast evenly,  you want them to be golden brown.

Add fruits after baking is done and while the oat mixture is still warm.

Cool completely then store in an air-tight container.

Experiment with ingredient, more nuts, different dried fruits, chocolate chips, wheat germ, ground flax… remember to adjust the amount of syrup and oil when you add dry ingredients. Dice larger pieces of dried fruit such as apricots, peaches or the like, into raisin sized bits.

Have fun and enjoy the fruits, nuts and oats of your labour.

Granola tips:

Introduced to Scotland about 600AD, oats have for centuries been associated with the country of Scotland.  Oatmeal is the mainstay of many a Scottish household pantry and used for everything from bread, to cookies (‘biscuits’ in Scotland) and  when boiled in milk or water  for breakfast when it is then porridge. Because of the high humidity and relatively low temperatures in Scotland, this grain grew much better than did wheat or rye, for example. Samuel Johnson, an English writer in the 1700’s once referred to oats as,  “A grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.” The general retort to that is, “And sturdy people they are.”

So when you use oats in your granola or other baking, you can thank the Scots who are credited with bringing oats to North America in the early 1600’s.

Dishing it out:

Growing up, granola was a staple in our home. My dad had his special recipe and for years I thought this was the only taste for granola. Not that Dad’s recipe wasn’t good, actually it was quite wonderful, it’s just that I guessed it was the recipe everyone used. I was soon set straight on that one, and when I cook,  Dad’s words echo in my mind, “Be creative and never be afraid to experiment.” His granola recipe?  He was creative and made it up himself. Thanks Dad!