Homemade Granola

Who knew how easy it was to make delicious homemade granola? Ok...maybe you did but I had no clue. To tell you the truth, I didn't even know store bought granola started with "old fashioned" oats. Now that I have made some myself, it seems pretty obvious.

We always have old fashioned oatmeal on hand (that's my favorite) and I love granola cereal so when I found this recipe I just had to try it! I whipped it up in just a few minutes and then it baked for less than an hour.

Shall I dare say I will never buy prepared granola again??? (Seriously, it was that easy to make. Try it!)

Here's what I used:

2 generous cups old-fashioned oats
½ cup Wheat Germ
2 Tbsp Dark Brown Sugar
¼ tsp Salt
1/8 cup Maple Syrup
1 Tbsp Agave nectar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
3 Tbsp flavorless cooking oil (I used Canola)
1 Tbsp Water
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup shredded, sweetened coconut

Basically, you just mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl (oats, wheat germ, brown sugar, salt nuts and coconut) and simmer the wet ingredients on the stove (syrup, agave, vanilla, oil and water). Then just drizzle the syrup mixture over the oat mixture and stir really well to coat it all. Spread it out on a large backing pan/dish and bake at about 250 for 30 minutes... stir and bake a little longer, if needed (you want it to be a nice golden brown color). When you take it out, let it sit to cool completely before storing it (or eating it!).

ENJOY!!!