After spending time in the bulk section at my friendly neighborhood grocery store (AKA also where I work) I picked out everything I could ever want in my granola. This is what made it into this batch:
raw (not quick) rolled oats
sliced almonds
raw cashews
sesame seeds
sunflower seeds
dried coconut pieces
pecans
dried cranberries
raisins
agave syrup
honey
vanilla
cinnamon
nutmeg
canola oil
Firstly, I preheated the oven to 350. Then, I started mixing all the dry ingredients into one bowl. It was about this time when I realized I didn't have enough room for everything in one bowl, so I had to split it up into two bowls. Something you may have learned about me by now (or perhaps you have enjoyed it first hand, by being sent home with a vast amount of leftovers) is that I always make ALOT of something. It's this disease I have, like never being able to line up the buttons on my sweaters correctly and not realizing it until I'm out in public and my sweater is hanging all funny, with one side longer than the other. I always make a ridiculous amount of food, and I can't help it.
So back to the granola. I mixed all of my dry ingredients together. Next, in a small sauce pan, I heated over medium heat I'd say about 1 cup of agave syrup (once again, measuring is not my strong suit. I just dumped into it looks like a good amount) and about 1/4 cup honey, and 1/2 cup canola oil. Then while heating and stirring, I added a few splashes of vanilla. After all the liquids were mixed and a little warm, I drizzled them over the dry items, mixed it all together and spread it unto a shallow baking sheet, lined with parchment. (Note: I could write an entire post about my love of parchment paper. By gollie, it is the BEST! The lack of clean up! The lack of scraping sticky items or bits of melted cheese off of my dishes! Every kitchen should have it, along with bon-ami and steel wool for when everything goes all wrong.)
Anyhoo, with the oven being up to temp, I baked two trays at a time (this ridiculous amount of granola took up four and a half baking sheets. Yeah, I have issues), leaving them in for ten minutes, taking them out and tossing the granola to make sure it was being toasted on all sides, and then rotating the trays from the top to bottom and visa versa and putting them in for another ten minutes. Twenty minutes (and much snacking on the remaining raw granola that I hadn't baked yet) later, the kitchen smelled awesome and this is what I had.
Mmmm. Crunchy granola yumminess. So, there is really no recipe to duplicate here folks. Just put together what you like in your granola (I read a few recipes that said to wait and toss the raisins in after you had baked the granola and let it cool. Of course, I read this AFTER I had mixed raisins into half of the recipe, so I baked some and then added some later. And it all tasted fine.) I had been really intimidated by granola before this. My dad makes the best I've ever had to this day, and it was nice to make it and see that there is no hidden granola mystery. It's easy. And fast. And so much cheaper than buying it! Thus disproving that age old theory of the triangle of "Cheap", "Fast" and "Good". The idea is that you can pick any of those two, but you can't have all three. Now I'll have to change it to "cheap, fast, good and granola". That folks, may have to be the name of my cookbook. Or my autobiography.
