Hmph, Forget the Tractor. I Want Granola.

Posted on Friday 19 January 2007 at 11:54

So I went out to try mucking about with the coal some more, only to discover one of the tractor's front tires dead flat, and the battery too. It seems the amazing Spazzerific was not having a bright moment when he "plugged the tractor in," because he really didn't. Not that it helps the tire.

So, today, I made granola. Here are the two versions, one smaller and one larger.

The original recipe my mother used:

6 cups rolled oats
6 cups any or all of:
almond slices
chopped walnuts
wheat bran
oat bran
coconut
wholegrain flour (wheat, rye, etc.)
coarse buckwheat flour
milk powder
...whatever else you can think of that goes well in granola. but not raisins. They go in after it's done baking and cooled off.

Measure into a bowl, mix together, and set aside.

In your large roaster, gently heat:

1/2 to 1 cup of cooking oil or butter
1/2 to 1 cup of water
1/2 to 1 cup of honey, molasses, maple syrup, or whatever turns your crank
1 teaspoon of vanilla
a good shake of cinnamon

Get this stuff all nice and liquefied, but not overheated. Then sift in the dry ingredients, stirring into the liquid. (Sidebar: This recipe is taking forever. Cat cannot type tonight.)

Stick the roaster in a 250F oven for a couple of hours, stirring whenever the stuff on top browns. Make sure you don't get a burnt crust on the bottom of the pan as well.

This would feed my ravenous family for about three or four days, so I do it this way:

15 cups of oats
9 cups of mix-and-match bonus ingredients, as above

Double all the liquids, follow the mixing instructions, and bake at 275F for two hours or so. This will last us more like a week, and saves a bit on some of the more expensive ingredients by using a higher ratio of oats.

As an additional note, you might want to set the roaster to cool and stir the granola occasionally for awhile, just so it doesn't steam itself together in a nice, rock-solid lump in the container. Don't put it away hot.

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Posted by BuzyMumof3sons on Saturday 20 January 2007 at 02:30 - Link

Your recipes sound delicious thanks for posting!

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Posted by BlueApple on Saturday 20 January 2007 at 09:23 - Link

Thank you for sharing your recipe! I have a good one too - I'll have to dig it out as I haven't made it in a long while!
J

Yum!

Posted by blessedmumof2 on Saturday 20 January 2007 at 06:03 - Link

I love granola. Your recipe sounds great!
Cathy

Made the granola!

Posted by BlueApple on Monday 22 January 2007 at 08:33 - Link

Ack! Love the recipe and it tastes great despite the fact that I cooked it too long! You know, I stirred and thought...almost done but I'll let it go just a few more minutes.....that turned into a few minutes too long! Turned a bit browner than I would have liked but my husband still loved it. Definitely a keeper! (the husband too, LOLOLOL)
J