Saturday, March 31, 2012

Lindsey's Clumpy Granola

I tweaked this to try and make it taste like Lindsey's store bought granola.

1 1/2 cups slivered almonds
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup rice crispies
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup unrefined sesame oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
dash of coarse salt

1 cup raisins

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and cover a cookie sheet with foil.
2. Mix the dry ingredients in a big bowl (nuts, oats, crispies, coconut, seeds).
3. In a small bowl whisk together the wet ingredients and spices (honey, oil, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt).
4. Pour the wet over the dry- set the small bowl aside for later use.
5. Stir all the ingredients really really well, to coat the dry with all the honey/oil.
6. Pour it onto the cookie sheet and spread it around with a wooden spoon so it's in an even layer.
7. Put it in the oven and set the timer for 7 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, if you want plump soft raisins, put the cup of raisins in the bowl you used for the honey/oil (the bowl will most likely have left over cinnamon and honey in it, so I like to use the same bowl). And cover the raisins with water. Let them soak while the granola bakes. If you don't care to plump up your raisins, skip this step.
9. When the 7 minutes is up, take the granola out of the oven and stir it around with your wooden spoon. Put it back in the oven and set the timer for another 7 minutes. Repeat this process three more times so you've cooked your granola a total of 28 minutes and stirred it a total of 4 times.
10. Take the granola out when it's a nice golden brown color and smells toasty.
11. Leave it on the cookie sheet to cool and harden- I leave mine out for almost an hour so it's cooled off.
12. While the granola's cooling you can drain the raisins and put them on a towel to dry.
13. When the granola is cool break it up into clumps- as big or small as you want. With the smaller pieces it's handy to just pick up the foil, fold it, and let the granola slide into a container- that's why I like to use foil.
14. Toss the granola with the raisins and store in an airtight container.
15. Yum.

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