Also known as Hairy Legs Granola, here’s my favorite recipe for homemade granola.
1.5 cups oats
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup sliced almonds
2 cups various dried fruits*
1/2 cup flax seed (ground)
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
dash salt
* I especially like dates and dried cranberries. Raisins are good too, as are dried apricots. Try dried apple, or if you like sweet, dried pineapple. You can use almost any dried fruit!
Various dried fruit
I always make small batches because I like to mix and match the dried fruit and nut combinations. Small batches give me the opportunity to make different flavors.
I use 1 cup of the regular oats and 1/2 cup of organic oats. Toast the oats in the over at 350-degrees for 5 minutes. Then I toast the sliced almonds and then the coconut. I toast everything separately because all ingredients toast at different speeds. It takes a few extra minutes but ensures the coconut doesn’t burn and your oats get nicely toasted!
Organic Oats
While toasting, I cut up the dried fruit. Dried fruit has sugars which make them sticky. To ensure the fruit doesn’t stick together I mix with ground flax seed. Then I dump all ingredients in a big bowl and start my “glue”.
The “glue” is the wet mixture that holds everything together. Start by melting the butter over low heat in a saucepan. Add honey and a splash of almond and vanilla extract. I’ve never known any recipe to mix these two extracts but the smell is just heavenly that I cannot help but use them both! Then a dash of salt to even out the sweet flavors.
Melt together the honey and butter
Once the mixture is melted I slowly drizzle over the dry ingredients, ensuring everything gets covered. Then I press into a pan and bake for 5 minutes at 350-degees. Remove from oven, let cool and ta-tah! You have delicious granola! Try it with some plain yogurt!
Really delicious granola
