Yum!

As requested, here is my granola recipe. By the way, there are tons of granola recipes in blogdom... feel free to do a search. Apparently January is granola making season. This is my mom's recipe, but I'm not so much for measuring and I thought I might like more than the recipe actually makes, so I made lots of changes on the fly. Mostly I added a bit more of everything and it turned out fine.


Preheat oven to 325. Heat the following in a sauce pan or in the microwave:



3/4 c canola oil

1/2 c honey

1/4 c light brown sugar

1/4 c maple syrup (use 1/2 c brown sugar if you don't have syrup) Why would you not have syrup?

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t nutmeg

1 t vanilla



Mom says to combine the following in a large bowl, then pour it all into two 9x13 pans. I combined it all in my big non-stick roasting pan and put that straight in the oven. Anyway, use whatever large containers you have.



1 box old fashioned oats (about 4 1/2 cups) Not the quick cooking kind.

1 1/2 c coconut I used the whole bag.

1/2 c sesame seeds I had a hard time finding these, but I tracked down a huge bag in the Indian food aisle.



Pour the sticky heated mix over the oats, coconut and sesame seeds. Mix mix mix. Bake for 15 minutes taking it out once to mix it all up again.



Mix in 1 1/2 c sliced almonds (or slivered, or chopped, or even whole!) and 1 c pecans. I used way more pecans. I love pecans. Bake another 5 minutes.



Mix in 1 c raisins, 1 c dried cranberries and any other fruit or goodies you desire. Bake 5 more minutes.



After baking, let cool, stirring every few minutes to break up the sticky nuggets. Or maybe you want nuggets. Whatever. After it's totally cool transfer to zip loc bags or jars or -- again, whatever you have. It freezes well and tastes divine over yogurt. And it's filling -- after all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.