Easy, Homemade Granola

Granola is so versatile. It can be made with butter or oil, honey or molasses, or brown sugar or even maple syrup or maple sugar. You can choose what nuts or fruits you want to add or even toss in sesame seeds. You can amp up the health factor with wheat germ and flax. The possibilities are absolutely endless.

For a long time, I was hooked on the granola recipe from Henrietta's Table, but it has a ton of ingredients and makes way more granola than I could ever finish, even when I cut the recipe by one-third. I'm happiest just ordering it when I go there for breakfast, especially because it comes with a honeycomb on top!

I will always have a soft spot for Flour's granola. While I worked there, the smell of the granola baking away in the oven was one of my favorite smells. And turning six trays' worth of granola every 10 to 15 minutes was actually very therapeutic. It's chock-full of nuts, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds and is incredibly delicious.

But, while I love the above two recipes, I now have a new recipe to include among my favorites: Easy, Homemade Granola from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking. I altered the recipe just slightly to include only what I wanted (and you can do the same). Below is my version and my new go-to granola when I'm short on time and ingredients.

Easy, Homemade Granola (adapted from Baked)
(Printable version)

Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup whole almonds
1 cup dried cherries
2 to 4 tablespoons mini chocolate chips (depending how much chocolate you like)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment.

In a large bowl toss oats with cinnamon and salt.

In medium bowl stir together oil, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla until combined.

Pour honey mixture over oat mixture, and stir together. The use your hands to finish mixing and break up any clumps.

Spread the mixture evenly onto the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven, and lift and flip granola with a metal spatula. At Flour I was taught to pull all the granola toward the center of the sheet pan and then to re-spread it out. This method works really well.

Sprinkle the almonds over the granola, and bake for 5 minutes. Again, lift and flip the granola.

Return the pan to the oven, and bake the granola for another 10 minutes.

Remove from oven, and let cool completely.

Transfer the granola to an airtight container, breaking up any large clumps as you do (unless you like the large clumps!).

Sprinkle cherries and mini chocolate chips on top, and mix them into the granola with your hands.

The granola will keep for 1 week.

I took the granola to work and ate it with yogurt and a banana or just by itself. It's sweet, but not overly so, and has that great chewy and crunchy texture.

I absolutely love the cherries, chocolate, and almonds together, but feel free to use the nuts and fruits you like best and to choose whether you want chocolate in your version.

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Do you make your own granola? What's your favorite recipe? And what must you put in your granola?