I was thrilled last week when Christy from One Fun Mom contacted me about posting her homemade granola recipe on Skinny Mom’s Kitchen. Of course I said yes because homemade granola has been on my list of foods to cook ever since I started preparing more of my foods from scratch. Though for some reason I just never got around to it. Her recipe, which I will be trying very soon, looks fantastic. Thanks so much Christy for sharing your recipe with us. Make sure to check out her website where she blogs about making it her goal to find the fun in everyday. Sounds good to me!
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Granola has become one of my very favorite breakfasts.
Here’s the recipe I’ve been using for a few years now. I like to serve it with plain yogurt and lots of fresh or dried fruit. It’s a favorite for the whole family, and packed full of nutrients!
Homemade Granola
Serving size: ½ c. Makes 15 servings
Approximate nutritional information:
Calories: 276 Carbs: 23 Fat: 19 Protein: 16 Fiber: 3
Ingredients
5 c. rolled oats
½ c. chopped almonds
½ c. chopped walnuts
½ c sunflower seeds
¼ c. wheat germ
¼ c. flaxseed meal
½ c. powdered milk
1/3 c. honey
2/3 c. oil
¼ c. maple syrup
1 ½ tbsp. vanilla extract
Cinnamon (optional)
dried fruit
Directions
Spread oats on large baking sheet and toast in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.
**While the oats are toasting, mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl.
In a smaller bowl mix together the wet ingredients.
Add oats to the dry ingredients. Pour in wet ingredients a little at a time, stirring and pressing down on the mixture to coat.
Spread on the cookie sheet, sprinkle cinnamon (if using) evenly over the top of mixture.
Bake in 350 degree oven for 15-20 min, stirring every 5 minutes. After stirring, press it firmly into the pan every time to make sure the liquids coat the dry ingredients. You want it to be lightly browned. Experiment to see how light or dark you like it.
Once you take the granola out of the oven, let sit undisturbed until cool. Break into pieces, toss in dried fruit, if using, and store in a zipper bag or sealed container in fridge or freezer.
*time-saving tip: Chop the nuts for several batches at once and store them in the fridge in a sealed container. I used to use an old-fashioned nut-grinder, but have now upgraded to a food processor. Before I made this batch of granola, I processed 8 cups of nuts.
**you can use a huge variety of nuts and seeds: I use walnuts, almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts – or a mixture of these. I also substitute almond meal or oat bran in place of the wheat germ and flaxseed meal. The options are endless!
I have made Christy’s granola and it is delicious! I especially like using cashews in the recipe
Thanks for stopping by and the feedback. I can’t wait to try it.
Like you said, the options are endless! Although I would keep your oats and nuts proportions, I would use almond milk (naturally sweeter) instead of cow milk powder, and agave or pineapple juice instead of a mix of honey and maple syrup. One could also simply add more dried raisins as a substitute for the sweeteners.
And although I have never tried it, I wonder how roasting the nuts too would work on this granola recipe… Besides adding smoked flavors to the nuts, the roasting may help to maintain the crunchiness of the nuts which are soaked in the milk. I like my granola a little crunchy!
Awesome tips!!! Thanks so much for stopping by.
Great ideas! I might try the pineapple juice next time I make it!
I’m dying to make this granola and I’m planning my shopping list for today. As my baby is crying in the background, I can’t really think this out, hahaha…would the proportions be the same if I subbed the 1/2c of powdered milk with the almond milk? Would it also be the same proportion when subbing the maple syrup with pineapple juice? Thanks for your help. I’ve never made granola before. The latest issue of Williams-Sonoma’s catalog had a great visual of sliced green apples, topped with pb and granola, which looked divine.
Hi Hollie. Thanks for popping over. I am not 100% sure on those substitutions as they would lend completely different consistencies and they each sure different purposes. For example, the maple syrup acts as a binder to the granola where the pineapple juice would not. This recipe was a guest post so let me contact her and I will see if I can get better answers to your questions.
I would greatly appreciate you find this out for me
Thank you!
Hi Hollie! I guess we’re a little late to help you with your earlier shopping list, but I’ll tell you what I can regarding substitutes:
1. If I don’t have dry milk powder, I replace it with more flaxseed meal or wheat germ (or you could add a bran or nut powder) . I don’t know that substituting almond milk for that would provide the same consistency (as Tammy pointed out!). The reason it’s there is for the extra protein and nutrients it provides, but if you can’t have cow’s milk or don’t prefer it, you can leave it out or change it with one of the above.
2. I have not used the substitutions recommended by Savorique, but if I subbed pineapple juice, I would replace only the syrup OR honey, not both, as the purpose of these is a binder (as Tammy also pointed out!).
3. I might be more inclined to sub pineapple juice for half the oil, as that would make the granola lower fat. But again, I haven’t tried these substitutions.
4. I think that subbing agave nectar for either syrup or honey would probably be fine.
5. If I don’t have syrup, I sub brown sugar. If you do this, though, you have to heat it in a saucepan on the stove with the other liquid ingredients so that it liquifies. And you would be losing the nutrients found in pure maple syrup.
Whatever you try, you’ll have to tell us what works best since we haven’t done these particular substitutions before! Hope this helps!