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We love us some granola.  About a year a half ago we started making granola and now it’s a standard at our house every other week or so.  But after sticking to the same(although quite delicious) recipe, it’s growing a little bit stale from frequent use.

The recipe I came across in my new Farm Chicks in the Kitchen cookbook brought a completely new spin to our granola tastebuds.  I perused the ingredients: unsweetened coconut, pecans, crunchy peanut butter, honey, and cinnamon.  Just the change of pace we needed to refresh our yogurt bowls.

I’ve made this recipe twice now and it’s going in the regular granola rotation.

Crunchy Granola
from the The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen

• 6 cups old fashioned oats
• 2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
• 2 cups pecan halves
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1/2 packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 tsps ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix the granola: Heat the oven to 325 degrees.  Combine the oats, coconut, and pecans in a large mixing bowl. Combine the oil, brown sugar, peanut butter, honey, cinnamon, and vanilla in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until smooth.  Pour over the oat mixture and stir until well combined.

Bake the granola: Line a large shallow baking pan with foil and spread the mixture in the pan.  Bake until browned-about 50 minutes-stirring every 10 minutes with a large spatula.  Cool in the pan on a wire rack; then stir once more.  Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Notes: The granola comes together quickly.  The cooking time takes patience but it’s the best way to get the granola evenly toasted and yet not burned.  I’ve had the best luck finding unsweetened coconut at Whole Foods.  I don’t recommend storing it in the freezer between uses, it’s very hard to separate a cup of coconut from a white frozen block.  Try the fridge instead.

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We’re late this year.  Late on planning presents, behind on digging in to Advent, and tardy at getting our annual thank you gifts made and delivered.  For the past few years we’ve been making a little treat to pass out to those in our community who’ve served and blessed us over the year.  Our favorite librarians, our hard-working girl scout leaders, and friends who share our day to day lives.

Last year we made granola, which was a big hit and also a lot of time in the kitchen.  This year I just couldn’t decide what to do.  Finally I realized all of those tempting recipes for biscotti and handmade ornaments just weren’t practical for our family this Christmas, and I needed to look for simple.

This week I got inspired by an email from Family Fun, a treat most of us have probably sampled, but I’ve never made.  With relief I told my husband we could probably get this done in an hour or two.  My plan was to put 8 pieces in each bag, about 15 bags total. Then Mr. Darcy added on 22 more bags for his co-workers.  Could we still pull this off within a few hours?

Over 300 pieces later, the answer is yes!  My 4, 7, and 9 year old were able to do every part without a problem. From peeling the kisses, spreading out the pretzels, adding the m and m’s, to placing them in the bags.

For the recipe, head over here.

Notes: Try milk chocolate, hugs, or candy cane kisses.  A variety looks pretty in the bag.  The waffle shaped pretzels do work well, but because they were butter flavored, I actually liked the salty taste of the regular shaped mini pretzels better.

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We love granola at our house. Buying the more natural brands at the store is costly and they still have added sugar and fat.  I think this is a pretty good compromise. Home-made with love and goodness.  We gave this out for christmas gifts and had people thanking us for the recipe, so it must be edible!

 

Mix Dry Ingredients.

 

 

Add wet ingredients.

 

 

Spread in Pan.

 

 

Bake and enjoy.  We ate it this morning with yogurt and bananas.  

You could also:

• Eat as cereal with milk
• Snack right out of the container
• Top ice cream or smoothies

The Recipe
(from the Family Fun Cookbook)

• 4 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup wheat germ
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup water
• 6 oz. dried fruit

1. Heat oven to 300.  In large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients(oats through salt).
2. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add oil, honey, water.
3. Toss mixture until well combined, then spread evenly in large baking pan.
4. Bake for 40 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring every 10 minutes.  Let cool completely then add dried fruit.

Aimee’s Notes: The recipe is flexible to what you have in the house.  Today I used wheat bran instead of wheat germ, skipped the poppyseeds, and added an extra teaspoon of cinnamon.  I’ve tried other granola recipes and I like the slow cooked nature of this recipe.  With higher temp and shorter cook time, I was always burning part of the granola.  I use foil and a little cooking spray to making cleaning the pans an easy chore. We love craisins or tart cherries in our granola, but any dried fruit you have on hand will do.

Doubling the recipe: When I double the recipe, I use two baking pans and put them on two racks and alternate which rack the pans are on each time I pull them out to stir.  Easy to double.

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