Any other granola lovers out there?

I happen to crave the stuff, myself. I buy it at the store on occasion, but I’ve always loved the fresh homemade variety the best, not to mention the money you can save making it yourself. Whenever I have accumulated a variety of dried fruit and nuts, it dawns on me to make a delicious granola out of them. It’s nice to make it a little different every time, depending on what’s in the pantry.

I’ve always loved a certain recipe, but in recent years realized that the amount of oil it calls for seems a little rich, and kind of unnecessary. So I made a few changes and now have a recipe that seems the perfect balance of sweet, crunchy, and healthy. Here’s the recipe I made today. (And remember you can use any kinds of fruits and nuts you have, and don’t hesitate to add a couple tablespoons of flax seeds, which I have in the freezer and forgot to add to this batch.) :

Homemade (and healthy) Granola

• 4 cups rolled oats (sometimes I replace one cup with quick oats to change up the texture a little bit, and it makes it a little easier for the kids to chew.)
• 2 cups sweetened shredded coconut (my favorite part)
• 2 cups chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup applesauce (instead of oil) (If I'm using the 4 oz. individual cups, I just go ahead and add two of those)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 /2 cup chopped dried figs
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1 cup dried cranberries (pomegranate infused, thanks to Costco)
• 1 cup dried apple chips (hooray for cannery food storage)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a sheet pan with non-stick cooking spray. Toss the oats, coconut, flax seeds if you're adding them, and nuts together. Whisk together the applesauce, honey, and cinnamon. Pour over the oat mixture and combine. Spread in the sheet pan. Put it in the oven, stirring every 15 minutes or so, remembering the edges so it all gets evenly baked. Mine took about an hour until I was happy with it’s golden crispiness. When cooled, toss in the dried fruit. Store in an airtight container and enjoy!


Being a mother of three busy bodies, I’ve got to keep my energy up. I always find myself starving from waiting too long to feed myself, because of the needs of the kids. And of course, I want to make sure what I do eventually eat is good for me (we all know how easy it is to enjoy one too many girl scout cookies now and then). For some reason, this particular cereal is the one thing that always sounds good to me at any time of the day. And with skim milk, or with yogurt, or just plain, it’s just gotta be one of the healthier choices in my kitchen. I found that when I don’t have a tupperware full of it on the top of my fridge, I really miss it. Maybe I’ll add it to a bi-weekly baking list along with homemade bread.
P.S. This is weird. I haven’t posted a recipe in years. I don’t think I’ll make a habit of it, but it was kinda fun and nostalgic.