Homemade Granola

I’m setting off on a family vacation to Mammoth Lakes tomorrow, so yesterday I ventured to Barnes & Noble to purchase a couple of books for the long car ride and the hours of waiting for a fish to bite while my line is in the lake. The two books I bought were Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul by Deepak Chopra, and In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan. The latter of which got me thinking about my ever-changing relationship with food… 

Michael Pollan’s book inspired me to reflect on my family’s eating habits and how they have changed over the years. Up until college, I didn’t have much concern for the type of food I ate, the proportion, or whether I sprucely polished off every unit of the food pyramid daily. I ate what I was fed, and on weeknights when my mom worked late, it wasn’t uncommon for me to help my dad prepare (aka, unwrap, arrange on a pan, slide into the oven, and wait for the beep) a batch of frozen Costco taquitos, corndogs, personal pizzas, or chicken nuggets. I actually remember being quite fond of the frozen chimichangas a lot more than my mom’s homemade ones, but always knew better than to voice it. Slowly, our world turned upside down, and the dawning of a new health conscious era brought salad to the table everyday. Lean protein, hearty grains, and even more vegetables are a nightly necessity these days, and every meal is diligently prepared, usually following a recipe from Cooking Light Magazine. Our freezer consists of vegetables and meat, and there are no premade meals to be found. I guess you could say cooking is a hobby my mom loves. We barely go out to eat, so dinner every night of the week is homemade, often from scratch, and always delicious and healthy.

Even though as a child, my mom predicted I’d never be domestic (it’s just the feeling she got), I have proved her very wrong. I love cooking, especially baking. I think it’s because I have a passion for building things from raw materials – cooking, baking, crafting homemade cards, weaving bracelets, the list goes on! One of my favorite foods to bake is granola. I hate how store bought granola is often loaded with sugars of various names which are only familiar to me from taking years of chemistry classes. So, I make my granola with good ol’ honey and maple syrup. I enjoy being able to choose the combination of nuts, seeds, and dried fruit to sprinkle in! I baked my latest batch to take camping with us, and it's a hit:

Ashley’s August Granola

Ingredients:

            3 cups old-fashioned oats

            1 cup raw sunflower seeds

            1 cup ground flax meal

            ¾ cup sliced raw almonds

            ¾ cup chopped pecans

            ¼ cup maple syrup

            ¼ cup honey

            ½ cup canola oil

            1 teaspoon vanilla extract

            1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

            ½ cup shredded coconut

            1 cup Trader Joes Triple Fruit Treat (dried fruit)

            Cooking spray

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 350°
2.  In a large bowl, mix oats, seeds, flax, and nuts.
3.  In a small saucepan, combine oil, honey, maple syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon. Heat over the stove until it starts to bubble a bit, stirring carefully.
4.  Pour the hot liquid mixture into the oat mixture and stir to coat.
5.  Prepare an oven pan by covering it with aluminum foil and coating it with cooking spray. Then, pour the granola onto it and spread it evenly.
6.  Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes at 350°, stirring every 10 minutes. Before the last 10 minute interval, stir the shredded coconut into the mixture. Please do not overcook it. Watch it carefully, I find that it takes a bit less than 30 minutes.
7.  After the granola bakes for 25-30 minutes, take it out of the oven and transfer into a large bowl. Immediately add the dried fruit and toss to combine. Let cool completely. It may seem soft, but don’t worry, it hardens as it cools.

And there you have it, your own homemade granola. You can mix and match if you don’t like certain nuts or seeds. Some suggestions are walnuts, cashews, pepitas, or sesame seeds. Also, there are so many different dried fruit you can try in it too, including raisins, dates, apples, or apricots. The freedom is yours! Enjoy!


What am I listening to right now? Hey by The Pixies