granola.

I had been wanting to make granola for a long time... so this week, I finally did it. And oh my goodness, is it DELICIOUS! It's sweet and crunchy and full of all sorts of yummy things. I kinda-sorta followed a recipe, but like I do with most recipes, I substitute things I don't have (or don't like!) with things I do have (and like!). I don't typically measure these added/substituted ingredients, so you'll have to guess at how much a 'handful' and stuff means. Ha.

Here's the recipe!!

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Combine in a large mixing bowl:

2 cups whole wheat flour
6 cups rolled oats
1 cup coconut
1 cup wheat germ

Then blend together in a separate bowl:

1/2 cup water
1 cup oil
1 cup honey
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon salt

Add blended liquids to dry ingredients and mix well. Spread out on two ungreased baking sheets and bake for an hour or until dry and golden.


My substitutions?

I only made half of the recipe, because I didn't have enough oatmeal at the time. It's probably a good thing, too, because this makes a LOT of granola!! I don't like coconut, which is probably why I don't have any, so I omitted it. I also didn't have any wheat germ at the time (but I do now!) so I left that out as well. I didn't use as much oil, and used half of the honey and added maple syrup to make the difference. I also added a handful of chopped walnuts, a lot of sunflower seeds, and bunch of flax seeds... I don't remember what else; I just threw in whatever sounded good!

My favorite thing to eat the granola with right now is greek yogurt (which I'm going to attempt to make sometime soon) and strawberries. MMMM...