I posted this recipe in another thread:

NUTOLA
(This is my original recipe for a low-glycemic version of granola that uses agave nectar. It's also a good recipe for anyone who loves nuts more than oatmeal when it comes to granola.)

1/8 c. sesame seeds (or kasha)
1/2 c. walnuts
1/2 c. raw cashews
1/2 c. pecans
1/2 c. raw almonds
1/2 c. sunflower seeds (raw or roasted)
1/2 c. unsweetened coconut flakes
2 c. old-fashioned or quick oatmeal
Mix together in a large container.

In a glass 1-cup measuring cup stir together:
3 T. coconut oil - melted (or 1/4 c. vegetable oil)
1/4 c. AGAVE NECTAR (or honey, or Lyle's Golden Syrup)
2 T. maple syrup
Microwave just until warm; add to the nut mixture and mix well. Place ingredients on a jelly roll pan. Bake in 300-degree F. oven for 30-40 minutes, stir with a wooden spoon every 10-minutes or so.

Cool and keep refrigerated in an airtight container.

Why thank you so much for both. I have half a bottle of agave nectar I am trying to use up also. Can't wait to try one or both of them.

Kate

This is my go-to granola recipe. LoriJean (I think) posted this originally. I've never sprayed my baking sheet. I use a large non-stick sheet and this doesn't stick. I also add raw sunflower seeds.

Vanilla-Scented Granola

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup golden brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup dried apricots, raisins and coconut
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Position rack in middle of oven and preheat to 300 degrees. Lightly spray large baking sheet with nonstick spray. Mix the oats, almonds, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon in large bowl. Combine oil, honey, and sugar in small saucepan; bring to simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Pour hot liquid over oat mixture; stir well. Using hands, toss mixture until thoroughly mixed.

Spread granola on prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Transfer sheet to rack; cool granola completely. Mix in dried fruit and store in airtight container at room temperature.

This is the basic recipe we've used for years. Our 80+ year-old hermit/hobbit-ish neighbor Lloyd gave me this recipe many years ago.

* Exported from MasterCook *

Lloyd's Granola

Recipe By : Katie
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
6 c rolled oats
1 c coconut
1 c wheat germ -- (or bran, rolled wheat, ground flax,etc)
1/2 c cashews -- (any nuts or seeds)
1/2 c sesame seeds -- (any nuts or seeds)
1/2 c oil
1/2 c honey
1/3 c water
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp salt
raisins and/or other dried fruits

Mix oil, honey, water, vanilla and salt and pour over dry ingredients. Mix well. Bake at 300F for about 1/2 hour, until dry, mixing often. Cool and add raisins and/or other dried fruits.

Very fun, thank you! Now all I need is to take a personal day so I can do some holiday baking:)

Kate

Here's the base recipe I use, or used to use. Now I just throw things together unmeasured - well, except for the oil and sweeteners. I still pour them into a measuring cup before adding to the granola. For one thing, if I use a 2 cup measuring cup, pour the oil into it first, then add the honey, molasses, or whatever, the sticky stuff just slides right out of the measuring cup.

This recipe is from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

Granola

6 cups flaked or rolled oats
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
salt 1 cup raisins (I leave these out)
1/2 cup safflower or canola oil
3/4 cup honey, golden syrup, or maple syrup. ( I usually use a combination of honey and molasses. I don't usually have maple syrup on hand, but I love the deep flavor the molasses adds. I also don't use this much total sweetener. I usually cut it back to 1/2 cup. I don't like super sweet stuff.)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Toss the dry ingredients but not the raisins together, then add the oil and sweetener and toss again to coat them thoroughly. Spread the mixture on two sheet pans, (I line them with parchment paper - it makes it much easier to pour the finished granola into the container I keep it in) and bake until golden, turning every 10 minutes so that it browns evenly. When done, after about 30 minutes, add the raisins and let cool. As the granola cools, it will lose it's stickiness and become crunchy. Store in a tightly covered jar.

Any more, I'll add more than one cup of nuts, and I'll combine various kinds of nuts, depending on what I have on hand. I usually use walnuts and sunflower seeds, but occasionally will add pecans (not this year!) or almonds. I'll sometimes add coconut, too. I don't add raisins cause I don't like them, and I prefer to add whatever dried fruit whenever I pour my bowl of granola for breakfast, rather than have them already in there.

Sally

I can second the vanilla-scented granola. Delicious!

I'm posting a link to one of my favorite baking Web sites--Cookiemadness. It's for "Clumpy Granola." I have made that and the other more traditional granola recipe from that site. Both good. Sweet treats though.
Clumpy Granola

OMG the Nutola is fab Grainlady! I can't stop eating it! Must ... stop ...

Thank you everyone! Woo hoo! I love a new granola recipe. Tried Lloyd's Granola on Sunday and liked it very much. Not super sweet which is really to my taste. Simple, but great. And the experimentation continues..,

Kate

lpinkmountain-

Glad you liked the Nutola. ;-) This morning I made the Clumpy Granola recipe you linked to. I thought the name was cute and I had all the ingredients on hand. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new recipe. I used whole almonds and pecans and hubby declared it a winner when he tested it when he came home for lunch. I gave bags of it to the workers who were here installing our solar heat. After they sampled it, they asked for copies of the recipe. Now everyone is happy!

-Grainlady

Grainlady....just made the NUTOLA. Awesome nuts flavors in the mix. I am such a cookie monster and hoping this mix of nuts will help me quit this cookie habit!

I love this adapatation by Molly Wisenberg/Orangette of Nigella Lawson's. A lot are too sweet for my taste. . .this one is not. Enjoy!

Daily Granola
Adapted from Nigella Lawson�s Feast

The recipe that follows is the way I�ve come to use Nigella�s recipe. Of course, tweak as you will. For example, feel free to use whatever type of nut you like best - just one, or a variety. You could add some flax seeds, if you like, or some shredded coconut. If you like your granola with dried fruit, go ahead and add some - but after baking, not before. And about the applesauce: I like to buy it in those single-serving cups, the kind made to go in kids� lunchboxes. I used to buy it in bigger glass jars, but I found that it started to go moldy before I could use it all. The smaller containers are very handy that way; there�s less waste.

Finally, I highly recommend eating this granola with plain soy milk. I like it with plain yogurt or regular milk too, but soy milk is especially good. This granola also mixes nicely with other cereals, like this one, and this one.

Dry ingredients:
5 cups rolled oats
2 to 3 cups raw almonds or pecan halves, or a mixture
1 cup hulled raw sunflower seeds
� cup sesame seeds
� cup light brown sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. salt

Wet ingredients:
� cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/3 cup brown rice syrup
� cup honey
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil, such as canola or safflower

Set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat the oven to 300�F.

In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Stir to mix well. In a small bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients. Stir to mix well. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ones, and stir well.

Spread the mixture evenly on two rimmed baking sheets. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until evenly golden brown. Set a timer to go off every ten minutes while the granola bakes, so you can rotate the pans and give the granola a good stir; this helps it to cook evenly. When it�s ready, remove the pans from the oven, stir well � this will keep it from cooling into a hard, solid sheet � and set aside to cool. The finished granola may still feel slightly soft when it comes out of the oven, but it will crisp as it cools.

Scoop cooled granola into to a large zipper-lock plastic bag or other airtight container. Store in the refrigerator indefinitely.

Yield: about 10 cups

Homeade granola is so good and easy I have decided to make it for Christmas hostess gifts, etc. this year. I think I'm going to use a hybrid between the Clumpy recipe and Nutola, with maybe green pistachios if I can find them, pepitas and cranberries and/or dried cherries. The only thing I am worried about is that dried fruits make granola soggy and they dry out. Any tips to prevent that? I definately like the way they would look in the jar. Perhaps cover them in a sugar syrup and dry them out before adding. Not healthy but would perhaps provide the "look." I dunno, or just add at the end and realize that folks will probably eat it up way before it gets soggy?

I don't follow a recipe when I make Granola. It is just done to personal taste. Here is the basic outline.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Granola
=======

I don't measure anything. Basically I use regular oatmeal as the base and add a couple of other types of oats. Mix in coconut, sunflower seeds and pumkin seeds, walnuts, sliced almonds, and then toss with a mixture of honey, real maple syrup, orange juice and a little canola oil with a little cinnamon and vanilla added. Once it is all mixed well spread it on two cookie sheets and baked in a 350�F oven for about 20 to 25 minutes until golden. Rotate the pans and stir the mixture 3 or 4 times so that it toasts evenly. When golden, remove from the oven, put it into a large bowl and mixed in dried canberries, wild dried blueberries, yellow raisins and some cut up dates.

Let it cool before storing either in a glass jar or zip lock bags.

Barefoot Contessa TV show just made granola... the cherries gave it a nice red Christmas color. I really enjoy her show and the recipes that she uses!

Hope to try this recipe when the granola I made this week is all eaten.

Cherry, Almond and Cinnamon Granola

Ingredients

4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
2 cups sliced almonds
1 1/2 cups dried cherries, chopped
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup good honey
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Toss the oats, coconut, almonds, and cherries together in a large bowl. Pour the vegetable oil and honey over the oat mixture. Add the cinnamon, and stir with a wooden spoon until all the oats and nuts are coated with the liquids. Pour onto a sheet pan. Bake, stirring occasionally with a spatula, until the mixture turns a nice, even golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Remove the granola from the oven and allow to cool, stirring occasionally. Store the cooled granola in an airtight container.

Here is a link that might be useful: Granola link

Thanks all!

Kate

Kate, I might be too late, but this is my favorite, from kathy (gardengrl). It makes a LOT, but somehow there's never any left.

MAPLE GRANOLA (from gardengrl)

7 cups thick oat flakes (rolled oats), uncooked
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup almonds, sliced or broken up
1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped or broken up
1 cup sunflower seeds, raw or toasted
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup raisins
additional dried fruit/nuts as desired

In a very large bowl, combine the oats, coconut, wheat germ, nuts, seeds and salt. Mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, maple syrup and vanilla. Pour over dry mixture in bowl, stirring and tossing till everything is very well combined (your bare hands are the best tools for this step).

Spread granola on a couple of large, ungreased baking sheets. Bake in a preheated 250 F oven for 2 hours, tossing mixture every 15 minutes or so. Remove pans from oven and cool completely. Transfer granola to a large bowl, and mix in raisins and any additional dried fruit desired -- dates, figs, currants, dried cranberries or blueberries, etc. Store in a tightly closed container at room temperature.

Annie

Oooh AnnT that photo is so groovy! That's just the kind of thing I was wanting to make. So you're saying the fruit doesn't dry out and the granola doesn't loose any of its crunch? I guess I'm just being overly pedantic, lol!

Lpink, when cool I store it in a clear plastic container with a tight lid. It keeps for weeks. The fruit is already dried fruit and the granola stays dry and crunchy. I make a large batch because Moe loves it.

Ann

Thank you Annie. You are still timely. I actually cook for her year round but over the past couple of years it has been essentially the same recipe because she is really fond of it. I can't wait to shake things up with some new recipes and yours looks like a great one.

Kate