3 Easy DIY Granola Recipes to Eat + Give {Food Love}

 

Granola is one of my favorite foods. I make a fresh batch each week and we often eat it for breakfast or as an afternoon snack. It is easy to make and saves you so much money. The other upside is that you can control the ingredients, the flavors, and cater to your taste and diet.

The basic recipe for granola is easy: toasted whole oats with some oil and sweetener. What you add to it makes for an endless variety of flavors. Try one of these or experiment with your own. 

We buy organic oats at our local health food store and they are less expensive than regular oats at the chain grocery store. We also buy organic/sulphite free  dried fruit and nuts. I choose honey or organic sugar for our sweetener but use whatever you like best.

Basic Granola (makes approximately 4-5 cups, depending on add-ins)

Preheat oven to 300

In a large bowl, mix the following-

4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick cooking oats)

4 Tablespoons oil (any vegetable oil will work)

1/2 cup sweetener (honey, molasses, brown sugar, organic sugar all work well)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

Spread mixture on a large, rimmed baking sheet

Bake until golden, stirring halfway through to evenly bake the oats

Allow to cool.

Store in a glass jar or airtight container.

Or package up for gifts (Gifting Granola post coming soon!)

This recipe can easily be doubled for gifts, or make several batches in different flavors. 

3 Easy Granola Variations

Nut~

Add to the mixture before baking, a total of 1 cup of raw, unsalted nuts such as almond, pecans, or seeds (if adding walnuts, add after baking)

Spice~

Add to the mixture before baking, 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom and 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (or any spice combo of your choice)

Fruit~

Add to your baked Basic Granola, 1 cup total of dried fruit of your choice such as cranberries, raisins, apples, mango or toasted coconut 

Want to give your delicious granola for gifts? A healthful gift is always appreciated and gourmet granola is a wonderful homemade gift. My next post will be all about Gifting Granola with packaging inspiration and labels.

We love yoghurt and granola with a little honey. A great breakfast or afternoon snack for our children.

Enjoy!

~Kimberley

Avoiding store-bought advent calendars~

While I love the idea of advent calendars, I am not a fan of the store-bought/fake chocolate (especially the licensed character) versions. I needed something easy to make myself, stuff with toys, and a few treats, that both my girls could open each day leading up to Christmas. 

I decided to collect some random packaging that I had in my supplies, label them with numbers, and collect goodies to place inside. There are toys, a few treats, and some fun things like coupons for a baking party or movie night. 

Our mantle has a collection of black and white family photos. I collected the boxes and placed them along the mantle and it doubles as decor as the colors go with our other holiday decorations in browns and greens. 

Easy, inexpensive, and most of all, not filled with artificial chocolate.

This would be easy to make in any color theme, style of packaging, and even tie the boxes together to hang down a wall or banister. What does your advent calendar look like this year?