What Was for Breakfast: Homemade Granola

I mentioned in my last post about undertaking an in-between holiday detox and workout regimen. Well, I actually followed through pretty well this past week, hitting the gym and trying to eat less and better. 

I've sort of been obsessed with finding the perfect granola since being treated to an absolutely delicious and ever-since elusive version of muesli at several bed and breakfasts on our trip to Ireland in 2009. Then on our vacay in Michigan over the summer, a good friend brought along some granola that she had made from scratch to share for breakfasts. It too was yummy, and after she emphasized that it was way cheaper to make than buy (hit up the bulk bins) and totally customizable, I decided I finally had to try my hand at concocting my perfect blend of healthy, breakfast goodness. I did a little bit of research and wound up cherry-picking ingredients and techniques from various recipes. Here's what I ended up with roughly. (Measurements don't need to be exact by any means, it's more about finding the proportion of ingredients that you like. And substitute away!)


2 cups rolled oats
1 cup almonds or walnuts
shy of 1 cup coconut
shy of 1 cup sunflower seeds (raw, not roasted or salted)
shy of 1 cup flax seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons salted butter (or if unsalted, add a bit more salt than the 1/2 teaspoon)
4-5 tablespoons honey
1 cup golden raisins or chopped dates


Combine first six ingredients well in bowl. 
Melt butter in microwave (or on stovetop, then remove from heat) then stir in honey. Pour butter and honey over oat mixture and stir, stir, stir thoroughly until everything is well-coated. If the mixture isn't looking at least slightly glisten-y throughout, melt a bit more butter, stir in a bit more honey, and mix in.


Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and spread oat mixture out evenly. Bake for 30 minutes at 300° stirring every 10 minutes. Keep a close eye. You want everything to go a nice golden brown, but once this starts to happen, it happens quickly. Enjoy the sweet, delicious perfume coming from your oven


Let cool a bit and add raisins.


Serve with Greek yogurt and an extra drizzle of honey if you like (I do). This turns out slightly sweet, but not as sweet as what you would buy in the store. More raisins or dates up the sweetness quotient too.


Makes enough for one person for a week plus of breakfasts.


Totally worth the effort. Making and eating will have you feeling good on multiple levels, I promise!


♡,


Erin