homemade almond granola

A DEAR friend has just had surgery and my first order of business was to bake her favorite homemade granola to tuck into the care package I’m putting together for her. There are a million recipes out there and countless ways to customize granola to your liking. I use a modified version of My Gluten-Free Kitchen’s Almond Granola. It’s nourishing and delicious and just really satisfying. I have made a few adjustments to the original recipe along the way to reduce the sugar and bulk up the nutrients, but if you like a sweet granola, her recipe is awesome as-is. My little guy gets super excited when I bake a fresh batch and devours it by the fistful. Here’s the recipe in case you know someone who could use a little extra nurturing [or a kiddo who needs a snack]. xo

INGREDIENTS

4 cups rolled oats (I use these because they’re GF, but any rolled oats will do)
1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds
1/2 cup Trader Joes Honey Roasted Sliced Almonds (or similar - they’re the secret weapon!)
1 tbsp flax or chia seeds or both (I use this blend)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon (more if you’re a cinnamon lover)
1/3 cup butter or coconut oil (or whatever oil you like)
1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
3 or 4 tsp vanilla depending on your vanilla love
1 cup of dried fruit (I used dried wild blueberries this time, but use anything you love)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 300
Line a full-sized baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with nonstick
In a large bowl, stir together oats, flax or chia seeds, almonds, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter or oil and honey or syrup. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and stir until all the butter is melted and it’s all combined. Once it comes together and simmers for about 30 seconds, remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla.
Pour the hot liquid mixture over the oat mixture in the bowl and stir well, paying special attention to the little seeds so they don’t all end up in a heap at the bottom of the bowl. Spread the granola on the baking sheet. Bake at 300 until golden brown, about 20-30 minutes. Give it a stir once or twice while it’s baking so you don’t end up with a solid sheet of granola.
Transfer the pan to a rack and if you want to add in dried fruit or shredded coconut, mix them in now. Cool granola completely.
When cooled, you can either devour it all in one sitting or put in an airtight container. Or wrap it up to deliver to friends.