I'm Back ... with Coco-Nutty Granola

Yes, I'm back, but I'm thinking that I need to keep dear hubby on as a regular. Thanks to all of you that sent encouragement his way through Facebook or email. I needed the break due to lots of changes happening and an extremely busy schedule. (which I will share with you in the not to distant future.) 

We have been out of granola for a while now so I bought some at Sprouts which was OK, but less than satisfying. Here is my thing about most granola you buy at the store; it is way too sweet. I'm talking unnecessarily sweet! It is often in large hard clumps that are hard to bite through. What do they use to make it this way? My biggest thing is the color, they are usually pale. How do you bake something to a crunchy texture that is so pale? Or rather, what chemicals are used that let this happen? without any color? This makes me question how it was baked. We like our granola darker but there is nothing like fresh made!

I have been trying to clean out the cupboards and freezer around here lately; toss, give away or use. I wanted to make a granola that took ingredients out of the cupboard without a trip to the store. I was able to do that by changing a few ingredients and replacing them with things that I had. The thing about granola is that there aren't strict rules. Have fun. Try something and if it doesn't work, don't make it again.

I'm calling this batch Coco-Nutty Granola.

These are the ingredients that I used

I mixed all of the dry ingredients together in the large bowl

I mixed the liquid ingredients in this small saucepan

I poured the liquid over the oat mixture and put it in the oven

I set the timer for 12 minutes and took it out and stirred it. Now somehow when I reset the timer, I accidentally turned off the oven, so it ended up taking longer than it should have. You would think that I would have questioned the heat when I had taken it out to stir the second time, but no, I didn't. I just happened to notice it on the third stirring. Yes, I was multitasking and not paying enough attention.

The reason for stirring the granola is that the mixture browns around the edges first. When I stir mine, I take a large spatula and push everything toward the center. 

I then go underneath the pile with the spatula and bring the granola up and out to the edges. I then smooth it all down and put it back in the oven. There is sometimes spillage, so wait until after you are finished to clean the counters, floors, etc. I know that I'm the only one that spills. You will be able to do it without spilling a drop!

The granola cooling on the range

I realize that the bag of dried cherries is in the ingredient picture, but the cherries are not in the picture above. I have started leaving the add-ins out until needed for a individual serving. The dried fruits do have some moisture in them and I think that is what makes the granola loose it's crunch too soon.



Enjoy!