Homemade Granola - Oh The Possibilities

You can't argue with me: granola is pretty freaking delicious. If I have a carton of almond milk chilling in the fridge it has no chance at surviving me and my trusty cereal bowl. I would eat granola for breakfast every day (if it wasn't for my love affair with toast - sigh.)

Granola is really easy to make and I'm very sad if you buy it prepackaged unless you have a valid reason like you're preoccupied with 15 children or you have no arms or you can't afford a baking sheet.

Here's my bare bones method.

Preheat your oven to ANYTHING. I suggest 375 or 400F but let's not get technical.

Line a baking sheet (the kind you make cookies on) with butter or coconut oil or tin foil or parchment paper.

Warm up a mix of butter (or coconut oil) and honey (or maple syrup). Maybe a 1/2 cup of each - don't worry about it.

Now fill a mixing bowl with a whole bunch of stuff. Go on. I would suggest oats but this isn't a dictatorship. It's granola making, lighten up. A recent favourite that I made contained dried blueberries, pepitas (that's hulled pumpkin seeds), shredded coconut, salted pretzels and dark chocolate chips. You can put nuts, seeds, spices, other cereal. Try granola crumbs. The sky's the limit but I wouldn't suggest ground beef or grape popsicles. At this point I add a pinch of salt but it's very naughty and I can't condone you doing it to your batch.

Go back to that butter-honey you warmed up. (It wasn't in the microwave was it? Use a pot on the stove you high-tech clown.) Pour the mixture over the bowl of odds and ends. Use a wooden spoon to toss it all together then spread it on your sheet.

Bake it for 10 minutes then take it out and stir it with the spoon. Keep doing this every 10 minutes until it looks toasty. Then let it cool and store it in a large glass mason jar.

Mmmm, see aren't  you glad you didn't follow a MarthaStewart recipe or anything like that? You go granola-maker!