The Perfect Clumpy Granola Recipe

Whenever I make this I should seriously make a double triple quadruple batch! I find myself eating it for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and even dinner if Trevor is out of town!

The secret to making this clumpy granola is the "oat flour." Otherwise you end up with granola that leaves you feeling like Black Beauty munchin' on treats from her oat bag! Been there, done that, and don't recommend it! So be sure to grind half your oats to get the perfect granola clusters!


Ingredients

10 cups oats, grind 1/2 of them to a flour
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 cup sucanat (or other unrefined sugar like coconut palm sugar)
1/2 cup honey
1 cup coconut oil
2/3 - 1 cup water
1 1/2 tsp salt
5 tsp vanilla extract

1-6 cups dried fruit of choice (craisins, raisins, coconut, apple chips, go wild!)
1-4 cups chopped nuts or seeds

Instructions 

Preheat oven to 300

Stir together oats (half of them ground to flour), cinnamon, and nutmeg in large bowl

Have all ingredients ready and stir constantly so you don't burn your sugar on the next steps! Heat sucanat, coconut oil, and honey over medium heat until the sugar is melted and kinda bubbly.  

Add the water, salt, and vanilla extract. Stir until the salt is completely dissolved.

Pour sugary, sweet solution over oats and mix until all oats are moistened. Let stand 10 min.

Spread granola out on baking sheet(s) leaving some large clumps. Bake until dry, checking every 15 minutes and siring occasionally. Break up the clumps in to preferred size about half way through baking. 

Mix in desired amount of fruit, nuts, and seeds.

Hint: Be careful not to over-bake/burn (I've done that and it's the pits!). If you take it out too soon and your clumps are still a little moist after they have cooled you can always toss it back in the oven!

Then EAT, EAT, EAT!

*****

Warning: This go around Trevor let me know that if there was one thing he would change about this granola it would be to make it more sweet. Wellllll . . . (a little secret) I left out the white and brown sugar on purpose. I thought it was great, but I'm eating mostly a processed sugar-free diet right now, so maybe my taste buds have been altered. Although it hasn't been a complaint in the past. So there you have it, you've officially been warned and if you come up with sweeter healthy renditions to this recipe, please share! Or just add more sweet fruit and pat your self on the back for bein' all "crunchy!" 

*****

And in case you do better with pictures. Here's a few I snapped along the way. 

The sugar gets all bubbly like this

I turned my heat down a bit so it wouldn't burn. I even slid it off the burner while I grabbed my water.

All watered down

You'll want to measure these and not drop them right in, of course! 

Stir, like a mad-woman, unless you are a mad-woman like myself, then just stir! 

I used my hands at the end to press in any remaining dry parts. Don't worry, I washed my hands after the last diaper change!!!

Don't forget to lick your fingers after this step! Mmmm....