Homemade Granola & Yogurt

My apartment has been cleaner than it's ever been before. I've cleaned our fridge, Laundered all our linens, cleaned and installed our A/C, mopped the floors, dusted all the shelves....Unemployment is looking good for our humble little abode.

And when I'm not cleaning like a maniac I'm usually dreaming up some crazy recipe that will substitute for my cravings to go out to dinner. We're talking penny-pinching here, people. I've been a little more cautious at the grocery store, taking note of the per pound/per ounce prices more than ever before. But I decided to splurge a little on Wednesday and made a trip to the Union Square farmers market and Whole Foods - I had a few ideas brewing in mind.

One of which was something I've been meaning to do for a long time, which was make homemade granola. As far as the cost-effectiveness of homemade granola, the jury's still out. I made a pretty decent-sized batch of granola, but nuts and seeds and flax are still expensive.

The thing I love about making things at home is that you know EXACTLY what is being put into the foods you make. Duh. But really, I like the idea that granola is granola, not sugar and processed oats and refined wheats and what not. Without further ado, here is the recipe I used, passed on from my good friend Gillian:

4c - oats

4c - combined of some or all of the following: wheat germ, flax, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds and/or pecans, and/or walnuts, raisins and/or cranberries and/or cherries. (I have found the perfect combination of these to be: 2/3c wheat germ, 2/3c flax seed, 2/3c sesame seeds, 1/2c pecans, 1/2c walnuts, 1/2c pepitas, and 1/2c golden raisins)

some - cinnamon

some - salt

2c - oj

1c - honey (mostly maple syrup 2/3c and a little honey 1/3c)

1/2c - canola oil

preheat oven to 300.

Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl

on the stovetop heat the oj, honey (or maple) and oil in a small saucepan until combined and smooth. Whisk together like a dressing. Pour 'dressing' over rest of the dry ingredients and fold everything together. The mix should be rather wet, like an oatmeal cookie dough.

Line 2 baking sheets or pans with foil, and spread the granola mixture evenly between the two sheets. Bake in the oven for an hour, stirring/checking ever 20 minutes. The longer the granola is in the oven the crunchier it will be, so bake for as long as it suits you tastes. I have found that in my oven, the perfect cooking time for my preferences is 1 hr. 15 min.

Leave out to cool for at least 30min, the longer the better. Stir around the granola with your hands and break up the larger chunks if you prefer. Make sure granola is completely cooled and dry before you store in airtight containers or ziplocs.

The finished product, mixed into some homemade plain yogurt

The result? After one hour of baking and about an hour or so to cool and set, I had perfectly nutty, chewy, not too-hard, not too-sweet, perfect with plain yogurt granola. (And to top it off, I made my own yogurt, too- whaddya think bout that!?) Keep in mind this is not your store-bought packaged crunchy hard granola. I cannot emphasize enought that it is a softer, chewier, less-sweet version. In my opinion, yummier. This recipe is definitely going to get some good use.