I love granola. I love it for breakfast, for snacking, for dinner. I love it any time. However, I have yet to find the perfect, on the market, granola that combines the oats, fruits, seeds and nuts that I like, that isn't TOO SWEET. Sounds funny coming from a jam maker, but it's true. I like to control my sugar intake and on the market granolas are loaded, loaded with sugar. So..I make my own. And of course..I use Deliciousness to sweet to my taste and give the oats some nice browning. My favorite flavor of Deliciousness for granola making is Absinthe Orange Deliciousness.
Love Yourself Granola
Ingredients:
•6 cups of Oats - any kind EXCEPT quick cook oats. Not those.
•1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
•1/4 cup flax seeds
•1/4 cup sunflower seeds
•2-4 tablespoons of Absinthe Orange Deliciousness
•1/4 cup or less of oil of your choice. I usually use olive, grapeseed or avocado
•dash of salt - I generally grind a few turns over the mixture.
•1 cup pecans
•1/2 cup almond slivers
•1/2 cup cashews
•1/2 cup coconut
•1/2 cup raisins or currants or both
Some other ideas of things to put in:
•CBD oil - a nice opportunity to add some restorative, calming oil to your daily intake that doesn't taste terrible
•dates, dried apricots, dried apples or peaches - any dried fruit..just add it last
•walnuts, peanuts, piñon nuts, hazel nuts..any kind of nuts!
While making granola is real easy, it's also real easy to screw up. Just do this..low and slow, you don't want to burn it.
First preheat oven to 300 and find that cookie sheet of yours.
Then combine the oats, seeds, Deliciousness and oil in a bowl. Spread it all out on a baking sheet and bake until almost browned..OCCASIONALLY turning the oat mixture over to brown on all sides. This will take 45 min or so... THEN you add the nuts and coconut and finish it to the browned level you desire. The nuts and coconut will only take 5-10 min to brown. Last step is to add the dried fruit after you take it out of the oven. You don't want to bake this..it just turns it into hard black fruit jerky. Trust me. Add it last.
Let cool and then store in a glass jars.
My granola is more like a muesli texture, drier, not so clumped. The clumping comes from sugar and oil. If you prefer this, add more Deliciousness and/or maple syrup or brown sugar and oil.
SERVING:
Obviously there are now so many milk and milk alternative options. I love eating mine with Oat Milk, Unfiltered whole cashew milk, unsweetened yogurt or ..as pictured below, unsweetened kefir. Watch your ingredients here, there are lots of milk alternative products that are, again, loaded with sugar. Watch your labels! If the granola meal isn't sweet enough..add a small dollop of Deliciousness for pure organic fruit and sugar sweetner.
Enjoy!
