With all due respect to the artisanal granola hawkers out there, paying $10 a bag for toasted oats is ludicrous.
For a fraction of the cost (and in less than half an hour), you can be sitting down to a bowl of homemade granola.
You don't even need to be a hippie.
In fact, after making your debut batch, I predict you'll be feeling so pleased with yourself...so Miss Molly Homemaker...that purchased granola will become a distant memory.
The hardest part?
Cooking up your most heavenly combination.
Here's mine--just in the event that we dream in the same flavor.
Almondy-almond-coconut-cherry granola
Makes 4-1/2 cups
Adapted from The Wall Street Journal
- 1/4 cup almond butter
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, liquified
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup sliced almonds
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- 1 (heaping) tsp. sea salt
- 3/4 cup dried cherries
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
In a small saucepan set over low heat, melt the almond butter, coconut oil, honey, and sugar until homogenous (and something you'd consider bathing in), about 2 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the cinnamon and vanilla.
In a large bowl, toss the oats, almonds, coconut, and salt together before pouring the almond butter elixir over top. Stir with a spatula until well-coated.
Spread the gooey oats directly onto a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer. Place them into the oven to bake for 18-20 minutes, stirring halfway through, calling it quits when they're beautifully bronzed and smelling out-of-this-world.
Allow the granola to cool and harden before breaking it up into the sized pieces you are after.
Mix in the cherries, then store in an airtight container for 3-4 weeks (as if!).