Making your own granola

Combine oats, whatever nut/seed add ins you want, puffed rice for a little crunch (I literally use Rice Krispies cereal), spices (cinnamon/nutmeg/cloves are heavy hitters but I LOVE cardamom), maple syrup, and a little oil or melted butter (olive oil, veggie oil, coconut oil all work well, brown butter can also be delish). Then mix them all together, bake at 350° for like 15-20 min until brown, and mix in raisins, dried fruit, chocolate chips, etc. after it cools. Get creative! I’ve made carrot cake granola where I grate carrot into the mixture and top with walnuts and golden raisins, peppermint bark where I bake with some chocolate to melt into the mixture and broken up peppermints, cran-orange where I topped with craisins and added a ton of orange zest before and after baking, and coconut almond where I added shredded coconut and almond extract. The possibilities are truly endless

TIP: if you want chunky/clustery granola, you’ll want a wetter mix and you’ll want to turn the tray once or twice during baking to ensure even browning. If you want crispy smaller granola, you’ll want a drier mix and you’ll want to take a few breaks during the baking process to actively mix the granola to ensure even browning/crisping