Who knew that making granola could make a person so happy? I’ve been about two months now without making my own granola for breakfast. We broke down and bought granola when we first moved. We tried to stick to the all-natural and (theoretically) healthier granolas, but the taste just wasn’t right to me. I’m not sure, especially in the last batch we bought, if there were actually oats in the granola, which leads me to wonder if no oats, then what was it exactly? I cook because I don’t like having to wonder what’s in my food, so having the time to prepare my own granola again this weekend was wonderful.
I stuck to a simple combination of oats, nuts, dried fruit, honey and olive oil. The one thing I did a little differently this time was to drizzle a little additional honey over the mixture before it went in the oven, which I think led to an additional crispiness. It’s strawberry season in the PNW, so it made my Monday morning to have yogurt, strawberries and granola. I meant to take a picture of this, but I’m just barely functional before coffee and completely forgot to.
Dried Blueberry Granola
Serves 10
4 cups oats
1/3 cup honey + 1 tablespoon to drizzle
1/3 cup olive oil or other oil
¼ cup dried coconut flakes
1 cup cashew pieces
½ cup dried blueberries
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Combine the oats, 1/3 cup honey, oil, nuts and coconut flakes. Spread the oat mixture on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Drizzle with the remaining honey. Bake in ten minute increments for thirty minutes. Let cool and then stir in dried blueberries.
