Honey Granola
3 cups dry oatmeal
1/2 cup margarine (1 stick)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup each nuts and dried fruit (optional)
First melt the margarine in a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the honey and salt. Heat the honey briefly with the margarine and then add the oatmeal. Stir it up nicely. Turn the mixture onto an ungreased cookie sheet, the kind with shallow sides; a large 9 by 13-inch pan works well too. Spread the granola out evenly and bake it at 375° for 10 minutes. It should be a toasty brown. Now remove it from the oven and allow it to cool and crisp up right there in the pan. Store it in a sealed canister. Add the nuts and dried fruit, if you are using them, when the granola is cool. Serve it with milk like regular cereal, or if you are hankering for a divinely inspired treat, get a big bowl of plain yogurt, and sprinkle a large handful of granola on top of it.
Granola
Everything but vanilla is optional. make up the volume with extra oats or substitute.
10 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup wheat germ
1/2 lb. shredded coconut
2 cups raw sunflower seed
1 cup sesame seeds
3 cups chopped almonds, pecans, walnuts or a combination
1/2 cup molasses sugar or honey
Raisins, if desired
Mix dry ingredients. In another pan combine the brown sugar, water, oil, honey, molasses, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla. Heat until sugar is dissolved but do not boil.
Pour syrup over the dry ingredients and stir until well coated. Place in pans or sheets. Bake 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Bake 15 minutes longer if you want it crunchier. This keeps 6 months. Makes 20 cups.
To make bars of either recipe, add everything before cooking with enough extra honey, nutbutter of choice, or other 'binder' to make it stick. Score while hot then cut into bars when cool. Scoring while hot makes it easier to cut. You can substitute any dried fruit, any dried nut, chocolate chip, 'candy' chip, or add cereal grains or prepared cereals (cherrios) for any part of the volume that isn't oats. You can use steel cut oats for a chewier texture. Nutbutters can take the place of the fat in the recipe. Add a bit more liquid to get a similar consistency if the nutbutter is thick. (peantubutter, almond butter, tahini, etc.) You make nutbutter by processing nuts with enough oil to consistency. You can do that first then add the granola if you want.
Cheryl