The Best Homemade Granola Ever!

Homemade Granola

Go Nuts Granola

 I love this granola because it’s pretty low in sugar and full of heart-healthy, memory boosting oats and nuts! It makes a great topping for Greek yogurt, overnight oats or that ice cream splurge.

 Ingredients

1/3 cup honey

¼ cup brown sugar

4 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup vegetable oil

5 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (do not use instant oats)

¾ cup roasted or raw unsalted almonds, coarsely chopped

¾ cup unsalted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped

½ cup unsalted pumpkin seeds

Preparation:

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Whisk oil, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt in large bowl. Fold in oats, nuts and seeds until thoroughly coated.

3. Transfer oat mixture to prepared baking sheets and spread across sheet into thin, even layer (about 3/8 inch thick). Using stiff metal spatula, compress oat mixture until very compact. Bake 20 minutes, then turn oven off and rotate pan without stirring the oats.

4. Bake an additional 30 minutes (with oven off) or until lightly browned.  Remove granola from oven and cool to room temperature, about 1 hour. Break granola into pieces of desired size.

5. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Makes about 7 cups.

Nutrition Information per ¼ cup serving:

148 calories, 7.7g Total Fat, 1g Saturated Fat, 15 g Total Carbohydrate ( 4.5g sugar), 2.3g Fiber, 4.4g protein, 0mg cholesterol, 44mg sodium

Notes:

If you measure the oil in a liquid measure cup and then measure the honey, the honey will easily slide out of the cup into your bowl.

Chopping the almonds by hand is the first choice for superior texture and crunch. If you prefer not to hand chop, substitute an equal quantity of slivered or sliced almonds.

When you remove the granola from the oven it may be slightly chewy, but will harden as it cools.