If You Like Granola....

then this recipe from a friend of mine is for you (the notes in the recipe are from her). This granola is worth the extra effort and much better than granola you buy in the store. It has great flavor and a nice texture. I left some of the sunflower seeds out the batch I'm making right now just to see if I like less. I plugged this into the Weight Watchers website and it's comparable to all other granola, about 5 pts a serving.

This is a big recipe and each time I've made it, I've cut it in half. Half of the recipe makes two cookie sheets of granola. It will fill a gallon size Ziploc bag to give you an idea on how much 1/2 of this recipe will make. Look at this goodness~


Granola

8 c. rolled oats
1 c. wheat flour
1/2 c. flax seeds
1 c. pumpkin seeds
1 c. sunflower seeds
1 1/2 c. coconut
1 c. chopped or sliced almonds
1 c. other nuts (I used cashews)
1 c. nonfat dry milk
(I also used a bit of milled flax...at first because I couldn't find the whole seed but then I found some so I used both--probably about 1/4 c. for a 1/2 batch...I never measured)

Mix all of the above dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
Mix the following in a blender or food processor:

1 c. vegetable oil
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. honey
1/2 c. molasses
1 c. water
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1 T. salt
2 t. cinnamon

Pour mixture over dry ingredients and stir until everything is evenly distributed.
Spread evenly over 4 cookie sheets (I line mine w/parchment...much less messy) and bake at 225 degrees for 1 hr. 15 min., stirring every 20 min. or so. Cool completely. Store in airtight container.

**If you have a Winco near or another store with a bulk section, this is actually a cheap granola to make. Not sure how much more it would be if you couldn't get the items bulk.

**Marion and I made this last Friday and found that cooking it for an hour is perfect for 'chewier' granola. If you like it dry and crunchier, 1hr + 30/40 minutes is about the time you'd go for. I've made it both ways and I definitely prefer the chewier as a snack alone and the crunchier added to yogurt.