recipe: homemade granola

I made this granola a week or two ago, and I couldn't wait to share it with you guys! If you haven't had homemade granola, you're completely missing out -- the store-bought kind tastes so processed and not nearly as yummy in comparison! Truth be told, I'd usually pick cereal over granola in the supermarket, but homemade? It beats anything, hands down.

And the best part about granola is that you probably have all the ingredients on hand! We have so many bags of dried fruit, nuts, oatmeal and sweet syrups in our house, it's a wonder I don't make this every week. Maybe I'll start!

One trick that made this recipe so much better than my earlier attempts: not adding the dried fruit until after the granola had cooked! I hated having extra-dry, overcooked raisins in prior tries, and this made so much of a difference. Everything just tasted fresher and better!

Homemade Granola

INGREDIENTS

3 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup coarsely chopped raw almonds

1/2 cup coardsely chopped raw walnuts

1/3 cup brown sugar

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup honey

2 tbsp flaxseed

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Water, if necessary

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Mix together the oats, almonds, walnuts, sugar, olive oil, honey, flaxseed, and vanilla in a large bowl. Stir well so that everything is mixed through thoroughlt (if you don't have enough liquid to cover everything, you can add a tablespoon or two of water to the mixture).

Spread the mixture in an even layer on a baking sheet lined with Silipat or parchment paper. Bake until golden, about 30 minutes, stirring the granola every 5-10 minutes with a spatula so it will cook evenly. Remove from the oven and stir in the raisins and cranberries. Serve warm or at room temperature, with milk or yogurt.