Have you bought any granola lately? Or any breakfast cereal for that matter? The price of cereal is through the roof and granola is way at the top of the range. And, honestly, I don’t know why. Our typical weekday breakfast around here includes a bowl of cereal of some kind and that really puts a dent in my weekly food shopping budget. Also, most granola has a pretty high fat content and it’s usually a hydrogenated fat – the kind you really want to avoid if possible.

So, I was really excited to find a great recipe for Homemade Granola in one of Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food cookbooks. By the way, those cookbooks have some of the most beautiful food photography I’ve seen. I only dream about taking a photo a gorgeous as the ones in those cookbooks. Just incredible.

But I digress. Back to the granola. This recipe is simple to make and you can use whatever nuts and fruits your family likes. I chose pecans and a berry-raisin-cherry mix. Walnuts or almonds would be good, too. So would dried cranberries and apples. The combinations are up to you! The apple juice concentrate lets the granola get crisp without using so much oil. The entire recipe contains only 2 tablespoons of oil and it makes at least six generous servings.

 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Coat a 9×13 inch baking pan with cooking spray.

Add the oats, wheat germ and pecans stirring to mix well. Spread evenly in the pan. Cook until the mixture is lightly browned, about 25 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking time. Remove from oven.

Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Stir together the apple juice concentrate, brown sugar and oil.

Pour over oat mixture and stir to combine. Spread evenly in pan and return to oven. Bake until oats are crisp, about 30 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking.

Let cool in pan.

Toss with dried fruit. May be stored up to one month in the refrigerator in an air-tight container.

Enjoy!

Homemade Granola

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Delicious homemade granola. Better for you and more economical than store-bought.

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Ingredients

• 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick cooking or instant)
• 3/4 cup toasted wheat germ
• 3/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup frozen apple juic
• e concentrate, thawed
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tblsp vegetable oil
• 6 oz. dried mixed fruit

Instructions

2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Coat a 9x13 inch baking pan with cooking spray. Add the oats, wheat germ and pecans stirring to mix well. Spread evenly in the pan. Cook until the mixture is lightly browned, about 25 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking time.
3. Remove from oven. Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
4. Stir together the apple juice concentrate, brown sugar and oil. Pour over oat mixture and stir to combine. Spread evenly in pan and return to oven. Bake until oats are crisp, about 30 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking.
5. Let cool in pan. Toss with dried fruit. May be stored up to one month in the refrigerator in an air-tight container.

Notes

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–Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Everyday Food