No Stir, No Fuss Granola (that's great!)

In my book, there are few snacks that beat granola. You can eat it plain, with milk, or on yogurt; top it with fresh fruit or cream; or mix in nuts, seeds, or dried fruit. It's tasty, versatile, and good for you! The problem is that the store-bought kind has lots of extra ingredients in it (or costs way too much for the good stuff), and home-made can sometimes be a bit too time-consuming.
In comes this recipe from ATK! If you can mix up ingredients in a bowl, you can do this. No stopping and stirring halfway through baking time. Just spread on a half-sheet, pop in the oven, and twenty-five minutes later you have golden brown granola cooling on the counter.

What You Need:
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups favorite nuts (almonds!), chopped or sliced; you can also mix it up here, add in sunflower or other seeds
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
2 cups dried fruit (optional) - dried cranberries, apricots, cherries, raisins, etc.

Optional: add in a bit of orange zest to the batter or throw in a handful of chocolate chips after it's all cooled. Get creative with what you like!

What You Do:
Heat oven to 325 degrees and oil a half-sheet pan.
Whisk together the maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla, salt, and vegetable oil in a medium bowl. Stir in the oats, nuts, and coconut but not the dried fruit. Once it's mixed well, spread onto the sheet. Bake for 25 minutes (longer if you like it more done), rotating halfway. Take out and let cool. Once it's cooled, break up into pieces and stir in the dried fruit. Homemade granola, done!
Photobucket

Comments

  1. Yes, this is the divine granola I wrote about myself. I favorite mix-ins are pecan, cranberry, and orange zest.

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  2. Sounds about right, compared to mine which has more oats, less oil and less sweetening. I am always so minimalist. I will try this one. Hmmm.. I am not a vanilla fan. I add cinnamon instead. Really nice photos. Makes me hungry.

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    1. Yes, Debbie, I was going to add up there that you definitely can do less sugar! Especially if you plan on adding in sweet dried fruit. This stuff is so good it's like candy! And again, Kelly, I love your mix-ins! A nice fallish twist for later! Ooh even a handful of roasted pumpkin seeds could be tasty!

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  3. Oh my gosh this sounds delicious!! I have to make some!!

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  4. I made it! Wow! This is so much better than the recipe I have used forever. I did use only 1/3 cup oil, coconut oil, instead of 1/2. My recipe calls for 1/4 cup to 4 cups oats, so I thought that was a fair change. I used less vanilla, but I did use some and it really adds to the depth of flavor. I added about a tablespoon of cinnamon. Overall, the flavor is superior and the texture more like what you expect from granola and less like toasted oatmeal. No add ins yet, cupboards are bare, but with so much fresh fruit available now I won't miss it. Delicious! Thanks!

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    1. Coming back to say the sugar just hit. A bit too sweet for me to tolerate well. I usually use just pure maple syrup but I think the brown sugar gives more depth of flavor. Next time I might reduce the amounts of both, or add more oatmeal so I don't have to make it as often.

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