Healthy Granola

I love making my own granola.  I like to mix up the flavors and have control over what goes into mine.  Granola is one of those tricky snacks – it sounds healthy – but is it?  One recipe I found was almost 600 calories and 12 grams of sugar for a 1 cup serving – mine is 557 calories and only 1 gram sugar.  Not all granola’’s are alike!

I make a batch on the weekend and use it all week in yogurt, as a snack, on a salad or even with milk as a cold cereal.  Most recipes call for vanilla extract, I like to use almond extract as I think it adds to the nutty flavor.  During the holidays I substituted pumpkin spice for the cinnamon and the smell from the oven while it was baking was amazing!

Be careful of the substitutions that you make because nuts and dried fruit can add calories and unwanted sugar quickly.  Try to find dried fruits with no sugar added.  Today, I couldn”t find cranberries without sugar so I cut the amount of brown sugar I add in half to make up for it.

I also have to be careful not to snack too much as 557 calories is a lot and I can easily eat more than I should.  This is one treat that I measure.  If I add it to yogurt – I use just 1/4 cup and use plain yogurt without added sweetness.

Here is what you need:

Dry Ingredients

• 2 cups dried rolled oats
• 2 cups 5 grain dry cereal mix
• 1 cup raw, sliced, unsalted almonds
• 1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seeds

Coating Mixture

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp almond extract (can substitute vanilla extract)
• 1/4 cup honey

To Be Added At The End

• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F
2. Mix all dry ingredients and set aside
3. In a small saucepan, place all coating ingredients.  Stir on low heat until mixture is warm and sugar is dissolved.
4. Pour liquid over dry ingredients and mix thoroughly to coat all the dry mix.
5. Spread granola onto a large cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
6. Bake for 40 minutes – stirring every 10 minutes for even toasting
7. Remove from oven and let mixture cool – transfer to an airtight container and add raisins and cranberries

Makes 7 cups of granola – Serving = 1 cup

Nutritional Information (per serving):

Tagged as: Snacks, almond extract, granola