Easy as Pie Homemade Granola

today in things earthy crunchy people eat: GRANOLA. that’s right folks, i made granola! and it wasn’t even hard, not a little bit, not at all. here’s how it went down. the other day, as i was pouring my kashi cereal (7 whole grains, on a mission to keep me full ’till lunch!) into my yogurt, i had two thoughts. the first was, “i don’t even really like kashi. it kind of tastes like cardboard. i wish this was granola.” the second was, “granola is so expensive.” then i had a third thought: why don’t i make my own damn granola? i mean, i am a woman. in the words of miss carrie bradshaw, a WO-MAN! and a WO-MAN should not have to pay $7.99 for a tiny container of stale granola at an overpriced new york grocery store, especially when she has oats and honey and raisins at home. 

so i did a bit of googling, and then a bit of altering, and voila! i had homemade granola. want to make it for yourself? you should, it’s really quite yummy, and it tastes great with some vanilla chobani.

The Recipe

4 cups rolled oats

1 cup wheat germ

1 cup slivered almonds

1/3 cup sesame seeds

1/4 cup brown sugar

4 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup canola oil

1/3 cup agave nectar

1/3 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup raisins or other dried fruit

to make, heat the oven to 300 and line two rimmed baking sheets with aluminum foil. spritz with nonstick spray. in a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, wheat germ, sesame seeds, nuts, brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and salt. make a little well in the middle of the dry ingredients, and add the wet ones: oil, agave, water and vanilla. toss until all the ingredients are evenly combined, then spread the mixture evenly on your cookie sheets.

bake the granola in increments of ten minutes – about 20-25 in total – tossing every ten to ensure even cooking. let cool completely, and then stir in your raisins or fruit (or chocolate chips if that strikes your fancy), as well as the remaining two teaspoons of cinnamon.

now, eat with yogurt, and get down with yo bad healthy self.

• Breakfast
• Granola
• healthy