Yummy Granola Posted by Unknown | Tuesday, January 31

I have had a few requests for the homemade granola I posted on Facebook.  I decided it was worth being on my blog because it is that delicious!  This recipe was handed down from my friend Rebekah and resides in a fantastic book of favorite foods collected over the years called "A Divine Collection of Recipes" by my southern friend Deena.  I started a new page "What's For Dinner" that will be a perfect place to save all of the delicious foods my friends make and some of my own too.  If you need an idea check it out, or if you have some of your own favs, email me and I will post them.

Remember you can take any recipe and change out the ingredients to suite your families needs.  For example, our family does not eat pork or shellfish.  So typically when a recipe calls for pork I will use ground turkey and add a little fennel seed, sea salt and pepper and it tastes better than sausage.  Perfect for pizzas, pasta sauce, meatballs etc.

Lots of homemade granola recipes call for sugar or brown sugar, which kind of negates the healthy part of granola.  Here are a few healthy "replacement" sweetener options.

organic raw sugar (this is not expensive and is the regular sugar isle, the benefit here is the sugar does not go through a bleaching process it is raw cane sugar but tastes and bakes the same).  You can also use Sucanat, Rapadura, or Sugar In The Raw.  These are all a little grainy and not as easy to bake with, but still great healthy options.

Agave Nectar - This is amazing and sweetens like honey.  It now comes in flavors like vanilla and hazelnut  which is perfect for you coffee in the am.

Raw Honey - Look for your local honey.  When you consume honey in your area you are getting an extra layer of health benefits to fight against allergens and build up immunities.

When making the granola I use raw honey and unsalted butter. ( I use local butter). I prefer that over canola  or vegetable oils.

4 cups of oats
1 stick of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of raw honey or agave nectar
Pecans, walnuts, almonds, flax, pumpkin seeds, craisins, raisins, dried cherries, unsweetened coconut, or dark chocolate chips (use any or all of these.  My favorite combo is oats, pecans and craisins) Toss all of your ingredients on a cookie sheet and spread out evenly

Melt the butter and honey in a sauce pan, add a teaspoon of cinnamon and vanilla then pour the melted mixture over the top of the oats on the cookie sheet. Stir to coat and bake at 400 for 10 min, stir again and bake 5 more min.  Let cool, and enjoy.  Store in a glass mason jar if you want to keep it on your counter or in plastic tupperware.

You and whole family will love this granola, in milk, on yogurt, or simply plain... it is heavenly!