Post by Granny Smith on Feb 25, 2008 22:34:56 GMT -5
Basic Granola
8 cups oatmeal, regular or quick-cooking, dry
1 cup oil
1 cup sweetening (syrup, honey, molasses, or sugar)
Measure oatmeal into a large bowl. In a small bowl, or 2 cup measuring cup, mix liquids together. Pour over oats and mix well, until all dry ingredients are moistened.
Spread mixture into a large baking pan (I used a cookie sheet, but 2, 9"x13", pans would work as well.) Bake at 350, about an hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Bake it until it's a rich, golden brown. Remove from oven and add any other ingredients you'd like (or leave it plain, if you prefer) Cool. Break up large chunks, if needed. Store in an airtight container.
Variations:
While you're pretty well stuck with making this with oats, because that's what makes it granola, the other ingredients are very flexible.
Oil:
-You can replace all or half of the oil with melted butter, margarine, or peanut butter.
-You can use half as much oil, but will need to increase the other wet ingredients by 1/2 cup.
-For fat-free cereal, you could replace all of the oil with other ingredients, although the resulting cereal would be harder.
Sweetening:
-Replace 1 cup of sweetening with pureed fruit, applesauce, jam, jelly, apple (or other fruit) butter, fruit juice, or maple syrup.
-Bear in mind, brown or white sugar work as a liquid in recipes, since they melt when they come in contact with other liquids or with heat, so sugar can be substituted for part of the liquid.
-You really only need to add 2 cups of liquid to this recipe. I used half greasy liquid (oil or melted butter), but the grease could be omitted entirely as long as you replace it with some other wet ingredient.
Extras:
Before baking:
-stir in nuts, coconut, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, or anything that would benefit from baking.
-add any spices you think would be good with your other ingredients
-stir a couple of tablespoons of carob or cocoa powder into the mixture, after the wet ingredients have been added. I think instant coffee would be good, too, but I haven't tried it, yet.
After baking:
-stir in carob or chocolate chips, chopped dried fruit, gummies, or whatever floats your boat.
-if you forgot to add spices before baking, or added them, but not enough, they can be added at any time during, or after, baking. They should, probably, be added while the granola is hot, but I won't swear to it.
8 cups oatmeal, regular or quick-cooking, dry
1 cup oil
1 cup sweetening (syrup, honey, molasses, or sugar)
Measure oatmeal into a large bowl. In a small bowl, or 2 cup measuring cup, mix liquids together. Pour over oats and mix well, until all dry ingredients are moistened.
Spread mixture into a large baking pan (I used a cookie sheet, but 2, 9"x13", pans would work as well.) Bake at 350, about an hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Bake it until it's a rich, golden brown. Remove from oven and add any other ingredients you'd like (or leave it plain, if you prefer) Cool. Break up large chunks, if needed. Store in an airtight container.
Variations:
While you're pretty well stuck with making this with oats, because that's what makes it granola, the other ingredients are very flexible.
Oil:
-You can replace all or half of the oil with melted butter, margarine, or peanut butter.
-You can use half as much oil, but will need to increase the other wet ingredients by 1/2 cup.
-For fat-free cereal, you could replace all of the oil with other ingredients, although the resulting cereal would be harder.
Sweetening:
-Replace 1 cup of sweetening with pureed fruit, applesauce, jam, jelly, apple (or other fruit) butter, fruit juice, or maple syrup.
-Bear in mind, brown or white sugar work as a liquid in recipes, since they melt when they come in contact with other liquids or with heat, so sugar can be substituted for part of the liquid.
-You really only need to add 2 cups of liquid to this recipe. I used half greasy liquid (oil or melted butter), but the grease could be omitted entirely as long as you replace it with some other wet ingredient.
Extras:
Before baking:
-stir in nuts, coconut, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, or anything that would benefit from baking.
-add any spices you think would be good with your other ingredients
-stir a couple of tablespoons of carob or cocoa powder into the mixture, after the wet ingredients have been added. I think instant coffee would be good, too, but I haven't tried it, yet.
After baking:
-stir in carob or chocolate chips, chopped dried fruit, gummies, or whatever floats your boat.
-if you forgot to add spices before baking, or added them, but not enough, they can be added at any time during, or after, baking. They should, probably, be added while the granola is hot, but I won't swear to it.