The Best Granola EVER
This granola is a little famous. I shared it on a different blog last year, and people tell me ALL THE TIME how much they love it, how they make it every week, and how when they lived in Vietnam, they spent weeks tracking down all the ingredients so they could still make it. You know, normal granola stuff. It's simply the best, so quit buying poor substitutes. This is stupid easy, takes a snippet of time, and will change your life. Pinky swear.
INGREDIENTS
3 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup almonds (I like sliced, but slivered ones work great, too.)
3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut (unsweetened is fine, too)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 vegetable or canola oil
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
HOW TO MAKE IT
Preheat the oven to 250. Yes, 250. Not 350.
Grab your tools - a medium mixing bowl, a 1 cup measuring cup, a 1/2 cup measuring cup, a teaspoon, a spatula or big spoon, and a large baking sheet. That's all you need... at least to have the fewest dishes, which is always my biggest goal.
Use your 1 cup measure to measure the oats, almonds, and coconut into the bowl. Three and a half of oats, one full of almonds, and just shy of full on the coconut. Now use the teaspoon to eyeball-measure the seasonings - salt (almost full), cinnamon (full), ginger (half full). Then use your 1/2 cup measure to add the brown sugar, and give everything a good mix. Finally, use that same 1/2 cup measure to add the maple syrup (half full) and oil (half full).
A note on measuring: I hope you don't think I think you're dumb. You're so dang smart. I'm simply doing the thinking for you so you can get this done fast and watch a little more TV before the kids get home from school. Let's all get lazy, y'all.Now use your big spoon to mix it all together. Did you notice that the wet ingredients go in last? And that you stir everything else together a little first before stirring in the maple syrup and oil? It's more even that way.
Dump it all on the baking sheet and spread it out evenly. Bake for 75 minutes, stirring two or three times throughout.
Eat it and die of happiness.
By the handful, on vanilla ice cream, with yogurt and fruit, baked over stone fruit as a crumble... all the ways. You'll never go back to your old granola.
