I made granola twice ever… the first was so incredible and simple, I made it again a few weeks later. and then I proceeded to completely forget its existence.
that ended tuesday night. and I had granola for dinner. I know it’s a bit higher in calories for the bulk compared to other snacks, but it is delicious. and. so. simple.
I decided on a mix similar to the first time I made it – simple ingredients that are just my favorites. I splurged on walnuts at walmart, which were randomly twice as much as all the other nuts. but, I was at walmart, and my homemade granola (for 17 oz. instead of the typical 12 oz.) was nowhere near the cost of store-bought. so, I really, really didn’t care. :-) and walnuts are delicious!
so, here are the really intense directions…
mix all the wet ingredients in a large bowl. add all the dry ingredients on top and stir until its fairly even. pat into a pan (I spritzed it with cooking spray first).
wet ingredients:
- 1/2 cup maple syrup (I used the real stuff this time :-) )
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 2 tsp canola oil
dry ingredients:
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup walnut pieces
- 1/3 cup raisins
- 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
bake at 325 F for 25-30 mins. to retain delicious granola chunks, stir only once.
I calculated the nutritional information through spark people’s calculator. I forgot about this great tool until I was perusing my old blog (that’s also how I remembered the granola). it is so user-friendly for calculating stats in recipes like this. you select your ingredients in their database, then total, and choose how many portions you want. to make it super simple, I weighed my finished granola in grams, and then guessed-and-checked until I had portions that were big enough with reasonable stats for a snack. at 8.5 servings (which is fine, because not all are getting measured), the basics are: 235 calories, 8 g fat, 38 g carbohydrates, 3.7 g fiber, and 4.8 g protein. (one note: do NOT push Enter while calculating any statistics with the calculator. it took me four tries because it kept wiping my screen and sending me back to the beginning. you’d think i’d learn.)
let me know if you try it (or, if you have any other good granola combos)!!!
in other events, I’m having a bit of a reading attention-deficit. I’m really enjoying game of thrones, but i did not feel like reading it the past two days. so… i dipped into another. i have a special place in my life for young adult fiction. enter: the uglies.
it’s excellent so far, should be a little bit hunger games-esque.
Yummy! Looks so delicious for such simple preparation :)
thanks! I’m all about simple preparation. I think it’s equal parts laziness and not very advanced cooking skills. :p
This recipe is making me miss having a functioning oven. The entire thing blew out a few days ago so I am forced into the realm of no bake recipes for a while!
oh no. :-(
but… really, I’ve only turned mine on for ellio’s pizza and this granola in the last six months… I might be lying. but it’s pretty close.
That looks SO good and it certainly sounds easy. Ohhh…ohhh…could I borrow uglies when you’re finished? I just heard about it recently and would love to read it. The “Kristen Lending Library” is doing well by me lately! Not that I don’t have enough of my own books!! ;-)
hahaha. of course you can. it is excellent so far. definitely the same vibe(?) as the hunger games. i’m hooked. and considering if i should buy just the 2nd book to be ready when it ends, or two through four.
That granola recipe looks so yummy! I have never made my own homemade granola before, but it is on my list of things to do. With this post, you have made it so simple to follow and make. Thank you and I will definitely be looking forward to making it!
:-) let me know if you do! i really do think any mix-ins would be fabulous.
I need to make my own homemade granola – I always have such a stash of samples that I don’t get around to it but this looks delicious!
hahaha, go for the samples!! this is just so much cheaper than any fancy granola i’ve considered buying at the grocery store.
I am a HUGE granola fan, I always add coconut though, a lot. It is high in calories and fat (I also add in every kind of nut I have, usually about 6 different kinds) but I try and use it as a topping for yogurt like you do instead of just a big ol’ bowl of it.
i love coconut in butter form and milk form (and pina coladas, surprisingly). shredded makes me so sad. but granola’s going to be a splurgey healthy food no matter what because it’s so dense. that’s why i did not skimp on the nuts this time. delicious! :-)