We all love granola and I found it’s a great way to get Madeline to eat yogurt. She’s now telling me things that she loved to eat, she doesn’t like anymore. Oh dear child! She’s definitely keeping me on my toes. She loves to have a little treat after dinner and I feel so much better about her eating some vanilla Greek yogurt with some of this granola on top. She’s now asking for it for breakfast in the mornings!

I love how tropical this granola is and it’s from the coconut and coconut oil. This was my first time cooking with coconut oil and I’m looking for new recipes to incorporate it into. If you have any favorites, let me know! I want to experiment more!

4 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup unsweetened coconut
2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a small sauce pan, melt the coconut oil. Stir in the honey and mix together until combined. Remove from heat to cool slightly. Add in the vanilla.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, almonds and coconut. Once the honey and coconut oil are melted together, add the dry ingredients. Mix well. Spread the granola on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Stir and bake for 10 more minutes. Stir and bake for 5 minutes until golden brown.

Once the granola has cooled, add any dried fruit or chocolate chips to the mixtures.

Slightly adapted from: Lightly Crunchy

We’re all big fans of granola here. I love making it myself since I can customize it to what we like and make a large amount for less money than buying it in the store. This batch made about a gallon sized bag of granola. We’ve been using it as cereal and as a topping for yogurt…as I did below for breakfast the other morning. This recipe isn’t so great for snacking…it crumbles easily and doesn’t clump together well like other recipes.

1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup water
4 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
8 cups rolled oats
2 cups chopped nuts (I used almonds, walnuts and sunflower seeds)

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a microwave proof bowl, combine the brown sugar and water. Microwave on high for 5 minutes and cook until sugar is completely dissolved. Let cool slightly and then add the vanilla and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, chopped nuts and brown sugar mixture. Stir until completely mixed. Spread the granola over the two cookie sheets and bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until golden and crunchy.

When granola has completely cooled, dried fruit can be added. Store in an airtight container.

The last batch of granola that I made went over well. I wanted to try something a little different and found a recipe on Tasty Kitchen. I changed a couple things about it but kept the wet ingredients the same. I want to find a recipe that makes clusters of granola rather than a cereal type granola. I have a recipe from my mom that is going to the next granola I make.

6 cups rolled oats
2 cups pecans, chopped
1 cup blanched silvered almonds
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
3/4 cup canola oil
1 1/4 cup honey
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 tsp sea salt
1 cup dried fruit – I used cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet or 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix oats, nuts and flax seed together. Set aside.

In a microwave safe bowl, mix the oil, honey, vanilla and salt. Mix with a fork or whisk and warm in the microwave for 30-60 seconds. Whisk the mixture together quickly to emulsify. Pour over the oat mixture immediately and combine well.

Spread the granola over the prepared baking sheet(s) and place in oven for 20 minutes. Stir and return to oven for 10 minutes. Watch over the granola to make sure it doesn’t burn. Stir occasionally. Add the cranberries to the granola, stir to combine and place back into oven for an additional 5 minutes.

Cool granola completely and store in an air tight container.

Recipe adapted from Tasty Kitchen

I love granola. I haven’t made it in a long time, but now that I’m trying to figure out more ways to eat healthier and more local, I thought it would be a great addition into our household. This granola would make awesome cereal or sprinkled in yogurt. I have to dig out my all time favorite granola recipe since this batch of granola will be disappearing quickly! I used quick cooking oats since that’s what I had in the pantry, but the original recipe calls for old-fashioned oats. You can also change up the dried fruit. Most premade granolas call for apricots and since I don’t like them, I just added more cranberries.

5 cups oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup sunflower kernels
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup dried banana slices

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the oats, almonds, sunflower kernels and flax. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, oil and cinnamon. Cook and stir over medium heat for 2 – 3 minutes or until brown sugar is dissolved and mixture is heated through. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over oat mixture and toss to coat.

Transfer to a large jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown, stirring every 8 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Once cooled, stir in the dried fruits. Store in an airtight container to keep fresh. Enjoy! 🙂

Recipe adapted from Taste of Home Healthy Cooking magazine