Granola

Good friends of ours always have fresh granola.  They shared the recipe with me, which I've been making for some time.  I like it because it's not too sweet and packed with healthy goodness.   We top our homemade yogurt with it frequently (Note, when we make yogurt to go with granola, we add extra dry milk so it's thicker...an extra 3/4 of a cup. The original recipe is what we usually use for smoothies.)  Anyway, when I asked our family friend if I could share the recipe, he replied "Absolutely!  I have no secrets."  I appreciate those who like to share their yummy recipes.

It makes A LOT.  Which I love.  It lasts a while.  This is a complete batch below.  This is a huge canning jar...like gallon size.

  Here's what we do, just slightly adapted from his:

Granola

Mix together in a large bowl:
8 cups oats
1 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup flax seed meal
1 cup coconut
1 cup slivered almonds


Mix together in a 2 qt container
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup honey
3/4 cup veg oil
1 tsp vanilla
4 tsp cinnamon

Reserve:
2 cups dried cranberries

Add wet to dry.  Mix.  Spread on two sheet pans evenly.  Bake at 200 for 2 hours if on shallow pan, changing shelf and mixing half way through.  If your pan is thicker, it could take a few hours until the oats get toasty. Once done, mix in cranberries, shut oven off and let sit in oven until cool.