Lighter version: Easy, delicious, economical and lower calories...what's not to love!!! Skip the oil and carefully toast 2 c. oatmeal on cookie sheet under broiler. Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in skillet; add 1 Tbsp. honey, 2 Tbsp. brown sugar, 1/2 tsp. vanilla and dash of salt. Cook and stir for about 1 min. then add toasted oats and 1/2 c. sliced almonds. Stir and cook for about 3-4 min. (oats will be coated and continue to toast). Then add 1/3 c. dried cranberries (or raisins) and stir 1 more min. Spread mixture back on cookie sheet (lightly coated w/ cooking spray) and return to warm oven (broiler is off) for about 15-30 min. This allows granola to continue drying out. So yummy and much cheaper than store bought!!! Can't wait to try other nuts and maybe dried blueberries (for hubby). Have fun making this recipe your own...
I tried this recipe, but with the suggestions of others. I scaled it down, using 2 c. oats, 1 T honey, 2T brown sugar, and only about 1 T butter. It came out so much better, like actual granola instead of over-sweet goo... I also spread it onto a cookie sheet and put in under the broiler on the middle rack to dry it out and make it crunchy. Also, a little cinnomon on top is really nice.
Very easy and tasty. Four stars b/c i doubled the oats,added cinnamon,vanilla, and a titch of salt. Did not change the butter, oil sugar or honey. Had the oven heating while cooking, spread on cookie sheet and put in oven then turned it off and left it. Turned out crisp and toasty. nibbled all day!
I love this recipe. It is quick and easy, but I gave it four stars, because it would have been less perfect had I not made some changes. As other reviewers suggested I added the rest of the ingredients,(almonds, cranberries...) in the last five minutes of cooking. At that same time, I also added coconut flakes, pecan pieces, raisins and cinnamon to the mix(~handful of each). I would have added more stuff had I had any more leftover dried fruits or anything! I did not increase the amount of the base ingredients though, and it still came out fabulous! Also a very easy trick to transfer the oats back to the skillet is to lay them on a tray lined with parchmint paper. All you need to do, is carry the oats while securely holing both sides of the length of the paper up, while carriying the oats inside. Make sure one hand is holding the back side of the paper closed so that nothing falls out, and the other hand holding near the front at the top. It is now a breeze to pour the oats back into the skillet sliding them down the parchmint "tube". Use the exact same method when pouring the whole thing into container after cooled. Easy transfer, and easy cleanup! Thanks for the recipe, great base for delicious granola, and can be very similar to quaker oat cereal, yet much healthier and cheaper!
This recipe came out great for me. The only change I made was to add the nuts and fruit before taking the oats out of the pan with the sugar and butter mixture and mixing them in then instead of after the granola had cooled. This caused the oats to form clusters with fruit and nuts inside.
Excellent! I followed the advice in a few of the reviews, such as adding more oats, some cinnamon and adding the nuts and fruit at the end of the last cooking phase. I also put the cookie sheet into a moderate oven, turned off after 5 minutes and let it sit... Nice and crunchy and very light...
Granola costs a fortune in the market. This is far better, less additives and a fraction of the cost. Thanks a million!
This tastes a lot better to me than most granolas. My kids really like it and one of them is really not thrilled with oats generally. It is also easy to make. I added a little bit of vanilla to the honey and brown sugar... Also just an FYI - it is a bit oily. But I think that is why the kids really liked it; it is rich and tasty because of that oil. I am going to try substituting coconut oil for the olive oil and adding a little coconut to the mixture. (Did the coconut thing! MMMMMN - GOOD!)
Great recipe! Definitely worth making it yourself vs eating store-bought. Like others I have some changes to really make it a 5 and they are: added 1/2 c wheat germ to the oats and nearly doubled the honey and butter (to compensate for additional dry ingredients). Also when cooking the syrup I added vanilla cinnamon and a pinch of salt. When I added the oats/germ back into the pan with the syrup I added the other ingredients then too to evenly coat them all simultaneously. I also added coconut flakes and sunflower seeds. I cooked all of the ingredients together for a few minutes on the stove stirring constantly then baked on a cookies sheet at 400 for 8 minutes. I then let it set out for 30 minutes scored with a knife let finish hardening then broke apart into pieces. Even though I initially almost burned the oats/germ by not stirring constantly it still turned out great!
After reading the reviews this is what I settled on... 3 c of organic slow cook oatmeal 1 T olive oil a pinch of course salt 1/3 c unsalted butter 2 - 3 T honey 1/3 c br sugar 2 - 3 T flax seed a handful of coconut chopped walnuts. After mixing it all together per instructions I put it under the broiler (on low) for 2 minutes stir and then 1 minute at a time until it's golden brown stirring after each minute. I love this recipe because of the flexibility. You can add whatever you want and adjust the honey br sugar salt to get the flavor you're looking for. I'm not a dried fruit fan so I leave that out. I eat this stuff like candy. Addictive. Many thanks for sharing!
Oh dear. With the suggestion to halve the butter-sugar-honey coating, this granola turns out delicious, but as written I'm afraid it's nearly inedible. Far too sweet, more like an oat brittle candy than a granola. One thing I never did have trouble with was sogginess. You really do need the full 5 minutes and it really does need to be over medium heat at least. If you skip this step you will have soggy granola, because its purpose is to raise the temperatures of the butter and sugars, changing them into candy. I like to use virgin coconut oil instead of vegetable oil, and add unsweetened dried coconut and a lot of flaxseed meal. Add the flaxseed meal at the end of cooking, just before you spread the granola out to cool, so the flax oils aren't damaged by the heat. Poppy seeds are nice too.
