From scratch: granola

So here is my first "from scratch" recipe post

I got the original recipe from the 100 days of real food blog HERE (this blog helped me a lot in our adventure to change our diet). I have simplified the recipe for our family as Mac has a tree nut allergy and I like the simple taste of just cinnamon. Hubs has added peanut butter when he has made it a few times, which is also really good. So I am sharing how I make it and if you want the full version with all the nuts and seeds and other spices then go to the link above.

We love ours as cereal with milk for breakfast and if I have some blue berries or strawberries I will put that on it. YUM!! Our kids love it! We will also just eat it dry for snacks. Although a bit messy that way. I don't make it very often, maybe every couple of weeks, because we go through a double batch in about 3 days. Yes, we love it that much. 

Granola

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups oats (we like to use quick oats)

2 tsp of ground cinnamon

6 Tbs butter

1/2 cup of honey

2 tsp of vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with parchament paper (we use our SILPAT).

2. Mix the dry oats and cinnamon (and any other nuts, seeds or spices that you want) in a large mixing bowl.

3. Heat butter and honey together in a small saucepan over low heat. Once butter is melted, stir in vanilla.

4. Pour hot liquid over the dry ingredients and stir together with a rubber spatula until evenly coated.

5. Spread granola mixture onto prepared pan in one even layer and bake for 60 to 75 minutes. (I like it at 60 minutes because I don't like it super crunchy). 

6. The granola will become crisp as it cools. You can store it in an air tight container at room temperature for up to two weeks***. 

***A little side note about making food from scratch is that it goes bad faster than food you would buy pre-made because there are no preservatives in it to keep it from going bad.