Man, oh man. I just love homemade granola! I love the crunchiness of it. I like how it has just the right textures and levels of yumminess. Let me show you how to make your own granola and you’ll never look back!
For this particular batch of granola, I used oats, raisins, dried cranberries but you can use any type of dried fruit you’d like. Apples, apricots, dates, dried blueberries or cherries – they’d all be delicious!
If you can find a good, all natural maple extract with no artificial ingredients, that is also a great addition. It makes me want waffles, pancakes, and french toast. Plus, it makes your house smell divine. Inhale the maple extract, but don’t drink it. It doesn’t taste as good as it smells. Why the heck is that anyway? It’s like some kind of cruel joke…
One important note – you can should always use a non-stick cookie sheet or a cake pan for this! I love USA Pan Bakeware for this because nothing sticks to those pans! And we all know, there is nothing worse than making a huge batch of something and having half of it stick to the pan.
This is a great make-ahead breakfast!
It will keep for a long time and as you can see, it’s easy to make a huge batch. When it’s time to enjoy this yummy homemade granola, you’ve got options too! You can eat it plain (like my kids), with milk (like Barry), or in yogurt (like the normal person – me). Talk about tasty!
Homemade Granola
Ingredients
- 8 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1 – 1 1/2 cups packed sucanat or brown sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- tsp salt
- 1 tsp maple extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Milk or yogurt or other base, as desired
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the oats, raisins, nuts, and cranberries; set aside.
- In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, water and salt. Cook and stir over medium heat for 3-4 minutes or until brown sugar is dissolved.
- Remove from the heat; stir in maple flavoring and vanilla. Pour over oat mixture; stir to coat.
- Transfer to two greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pans.
- Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until crisp, stirring every 10 minutes.
- Cool completely on wire racks. Store in an airtight container. Serve with milk or yogurt.
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I love granola but I hate how expensive it is to buy it in those tiny little boxes. Worse than regular cereal prices and I don’t even buy that O.O This recipe turned out so easy it was silly! I cut back on the amount of brown sugar, switched honey for maple syrup, and switched the mix-ins (slivered almonds, chopped walnuts and dried blueberries) all in order to use what I already had. My gas oven required a little more cook time to get the right consistency but after it was all done it turned out AMAZING! I will never buy another box of granola from the grocery store again. SERIOUSLY. Thank you Stacy! ^_^
🙂 After having it at home, I don’t even like the store bought stuff. I’m glad you liked it!
Ok, thank you Pinterest. Just found your blog and not only do I love the recipes but your sense of humor. I’m seriously laughing out loud. Thanks!
🙂 I have a HUGE thing for Pinterest.
Hi Stacy! Can I use maple syrup in place of the maple flavoring? Would it still give a good enough mapley flavor becausr I could drink maple syrup from the bottle:) PS- I just noticed your pink disclaimer above the comments section. So sorry you’ve been forced to put common sense & common courtesy in writing:(
Yeah, well yesterday I had a comment from a lovely gentleman who cursed me – twice. So, Barry had to put that up there.
Anyway, you could try it. The maple flavoring is VERY concentrated, so it gives is a nice maple flavor….but when I make granola, I serve it with yogurt that’s been sweetened with maple syrup so that would help too! 🙂 I too share your passion of the syrup bottle.
The Maple Granola is the first of your recipes that I’ve tried, and I must say that it is delicious! I just took it out of the oven…..the house smells wonderful. We’re going on a trip in our motor coach this week to Pensacola, FL. This granola will make a perfect snack and also a great breakfast sprinkled on top of vanilla yogurt.
I’m so glad you like it! 🙂 It’s one of Barry’s favorites. He gets so excited when I make it. Have fun in Florida! I’ve been to Pensacola…it’s very nice!
Stacy I have to say that anything in the kitchen that doesn’t require a microwave intimidates me. I’m so glad that this was so EASY and so DELICIOUS!!!!! It took me 5 minutes to make it, and 30 to bake it. My husband (who said he is not a fan of granola) has been converted. You are my kitchen HERO!!!!
No honey, YOU’RE my kitchen hero! 🙂 You should also try the Cinnamon PB Granola – it’s Barry’s favorite!
Mmmmmm, looks delish!