Snow Day Granola

Yesterday we were snowed in.

Schools were closed, even the mall was closed! We received over a foot and a half of beautiful snow. It's pretty, but I am ready for a warm, sunny thaw out vacation just about now.

I was forced to read food blogs all day (poor thing) and catch up on my baking.

One of my faithful readers, Lisa from Delaware, told me she made a big batch of homemade granola to give away to all of her nice neighbors that helped shovel her out (they got 2 feet of snow!).

I thought it was a great idea and I had never made granola before, so why not give it a try. The smell of nuts, oats and cinnamon toasting were a great way to warm up the kitchen on a snowy winter day!

My husband (the head shoveler) loved this sprinkled on his Greek yogurt.



Snow Day Granola:

Feel free to use cranberries, dried blueberries, apricots, dates, and any kind of nut. I only had raisins, so this was pretty plain, but still terrific. Sunflower seeds or flax seed would make this even more of a heart healthy snack.

2 cups of rolled oats
1/4 cup of light brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt

1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
a little bit more than 1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup of chopped walnuts
1/4 cup of slivered almonds
1/4 cup of whole hazelnuts
1/4 cup of golden raisins (add after everything has been baked)

Preheat oven to 325F.

Mix the oats with the sugar, salt and cinnamon.
Add your chopped nuts (except for the dried fruit and raisins, otherwise they will burn).

Whisk together the honey, oil and vanilla and pour over the oat & nut mixture.
(I mixed it with my hands, though a bit messy, it seemed to come together better).



Spread out the granola mixture on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

Flip over with a large metal spatula (it won't be solid, so don't panic) and bake for another 10 minutes.

Now mix in the raisins and dried fruit with a spatula and bake another 10 minutes or so until crisp. (Total baking time was about 35 minutes).
I kept an eye on it to make sure it wasn't getting too dark. .



Once it cools down, it will harden. Break apart and store in an airtight container for a few days, if it lasts that long!