Homemade Granola

We love granola in this house and eat it like it's going out of style. And while our love for the stuff is fantastic, granola in and of itself is a seriously expensive item to constantly have on your grocery list.  Lucky for me, a few months ago I was watching an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (don't judge) and the owner of a diner they were showcasing was showing how she made her own granola to serve to customers in the morning.  I literally smacked myself in the face.  Make my own granola?  Why have I never even considered this?  After that I was on a mission to find a fantastic granola recipe that didn't use a lot of butter or sugar.  I finally found one on Pink Pisatchio's blog and have been using it ever since.  It's easy to make, lasts us a while, tastes delicious and definitely reduces my food bill by a few dollars (ever little bit helps, right?).  Needless to say, I'm hooked and will never, ever buy granola from the supermarket again!

• 8 cups of whole oats (not instant oats - this is important)
• 1 cup of sesame seeds
• 1 cup of sunflower seeds
• 1 cup of shredded coconut
• 1 cup of flax seeds
• 2 cups of dried cranberries or raisins 
• 1 cup of light olive oil
• 1 cup of honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• Salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.  

Incorporate all of your dry ingredients into a large bowl (don't be afraid to use your hands - you will be able to combine all of the ingredients better).

In a separate bowl, mix all of your wet ingredients together - starting with the oil first, then the honey and then the vanilla. 

Mix well and stir into your dry ingredients.  

Once the ingredients are completely incorporated, divide equally onto two baking sheets and sprinkle liberally with salt.  

Bake for 1 hour and then take pans out to stir the granola and rotate your pans.  

Bake for an additional hour.  Let the granola cool completely before storing in airtight containers or gallon sized ziploc bags.

If you can't tell by the amount of each ingredient you need, this recipe makes A LOT of granola. See?

 I can usually fill up two whole air tight container and a gallon sized ziploc bag (Note to self: this would actually make a great gift to give at Christmas or for when someone has a baby, etc.).  I urge you to try this recipe and enjoy all of its granola-y deliciousness!!