My Two Favorite Granola Recipes Part 1

                                                  Pictures from A Bountiful Kitchen Blog

   I've loved granola for as long as I can remember. I mean really, what's not to like? Rolled oats sweetened with honey and brown sugar, mixed with lots of goodies-- cashews, coconut, slivered almonds, then baked to golden, crunchy perfection. It's easily adapted too. You can add dried fruit like raisins or cranberries and sometimes I switch up the nuts for variety.
   
     Not only delicious, it's really quite simple to make. Toss a few ingredients together, give it a good stir, spread it on some cookie sheets and bake. It does require 1/1/2-2 hours baking time depending on how crunchy you like it, but that will give you plenty of time to clean your toilets, take a nap (in my dreams), or pick up that great book you've been dying to finish.

     Granola is a great multi-tasker. Served for breakfast with some milk, sprinkled in a fruit and yogurt parfait, or snatched by the handful for a quick-on-the go snack. Stored in an airtight container, it can last for several weeks.

I have two recipes that I LOVE and alternate between (and just spotted this one that I'll be trying next.) The first is Seven Wives Inn Granola. It originates from a historic bed and breakfast here in St. George, Utah  that's been here since 1891 called, you guessed it, The Seven Wives Inn. Spotted here and here on two of my favorite blogs, this granola is almost identical to the granola my Mom made us growing up.  If you can buy your ingredients in bulk from a health food or warehouse store, you'll save yourself some money too.

*Plan ahead. This recipe takes 1 1/2-2 hours to bake.**



Seven Wives Inn Granola
Printable Version

8 cups old fashioned oats

1 ½ cups brown sugar

1 ½ cups wheat germ

8 oz coconut

8 oz salted pecans or almonds (I like to use slivered)

8 oz cashews

8 oz sunflower seeds, shelled

1 cup raisins, optional (I left these out)

½ cup water

½ cup vegetable oil

½ cup honey

½ cup peanut butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Mix together first 8 ingredients in a large bowl or other container.

Put the rest of the ingredients in a saucepan and stir. Bring to a boil. Pour this over the dry ingredients and stir. Spread on 2 large cookie sheets, and bake for 1 ½ hours, stirring about every 20 minutes.

Cook until the granola is done to your desired (crunch) taste.

*I highly recommend using a scale to measure the ingredients.*
                                   
                              Stay tuned for another delicious granola recipe coming soon.

    Posted by: Sallie