Granola is a baked and sweetened food mainly consisting of oats, nuts, seeds & any sweetener. Dried fruits are add-ons. Granola can be made as bars or chunks and had as snacks or loosely baked and added with yogurt, fruits & honey or had with milk as breakfast cereal. It can also be used as toppings for desserts. Though Muesli is similar to granola but neither baked nor sweetened. In most parts of the world, the names Muesli and Granola are used interchangeably. Homemade granola is easy to make and is considered as a nutritious snack or cereal option. Rolled oats is the base ingredient and you can add any nuts/seeds of your choice/availability.
Homemade granola
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Serves: 5 cups
Ingredients
Base ingredient
- Rolled oats - 2 cups
Sweetener
- Maple syrup or honey - ¼ cup
Raw Nuts
- Almonds - ½ cup to 1 cup
- Cashews - ½ cup
- Walnuts - ½ cup
Spice
- Cinnamon powder - ½ to 1 tsp
Toppings
- Hemp hearts - ⅛ cup
- Raisins - ½ cup
- Dried cranberries - ½ cup
Instructions
- First chop all nuts to pieces. The size of each piece is your wish but make sure all nuts are chopped to same size for even baking. I chop each almond/cashew to 3 to 4 pieces and walnut pieces to match the same size. If you are making just for adults, you shall add whole or just halved nuts.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit/170 degrees Celsius.
- Take a baking tray. I prefer my glass tray which has good height, allowing me to freely mix without spilling out. Add rolled oats, chopped nuts - almonds, cashews, walnuts. Add cinnamon powder, maple syrup (I prefer Maple Syrup) or honey and mix well with a spoon so that the sweetener coats oats and nuts.
- Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
- Take out, mix again so that bottom ones come up.
- Again, bake for 10 more minutes.
- Take out, mix well and again bake for 5 mins. Repeat this process for every 5 mins, until the nuts and oats look cooked. They should be slightly browned. Make sure not to over brown.
- Once done, take out, add Hemp hearts and dried fruits like raisins, dried cranberries and mix well.
- Let it cool in the tray itself.
- Once completely cooled down, oats, nuts & seeds will turn crispier. Transfer to air-tight container and enjoy as a snack or add it to milk or yogurt. Stays good for 1 month, if handled with spoon.
Notes
1)Do not use quick cooking oats in this recipe as it will be burnt soon. Rolled oats suit best for this recipe.
2)You shall use any Nuts, seeds and dried fruits. I personally feel that peanuts do not suit well for this recipe. My kids don't like the addition of Pumpkin seeds but I do. Chopped apricots and dates are more options.
3)If using honey, be informed that heating honey will lose its nutritional value, but honey is just added to avoid any other processed sweeteners. Heating honey will not cause any harm, other than nutritional loss.
4)You shall increase or decrease the amount of honey/maple syrup as per the sweetness preferred.
5)Cinnamon powder is optional and can be replaced with cardamom powder.
6)To add more texture & carb, you shall add red beaten rice/poha/aval. Use Millet poha for more nutrition. If adding poha, add after the first 15 mins as oats take longer time to bake but poha takes less than half of that time.
2)You shall use any Nuts, seeds and dried fruits. I personally feel that peanuts do not suit well for this recipe. My kids don't like the addition of Pumpkin seeds but I do. Chopped apricots and dates are more options.
3)If using honey, be informed that heating honey will lose its nutritional value, but honey is just added to avoid any other processed sweeteners. Heating honey will not cause any harm, other than nutritional loss.
4)You shall increase or decrease the amount of honey/maple syrup as per the sweetness preferred.
5)Cinnamon powder is optional and can be replaced with cardamom powder.
6)To add more texture & carb, you shall add red beaten rice/poha/aval. Use Millet poha for more nutrition. If adding poha, add after the first 15 mins as oats take longer time to bake but poha takes less than half of that time.
My kids like to eat granola with milk topped with some honey for breakfast. My hubby likes to eat granola with yogurt and fruits. I love to much on granola as a snack. Enjoy in whatever way you like 🙂
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