Recipe Time: Homemade Granola!

When I was a teenager, my Bishop (local church congregation leader) was a Forest Ranger, and a really outdoorsy guy.  When we girls complained that the Boy Scouts got to have all the fun with long overnight hikes, he happily obliged us by taking us first on a 20 mile hike (three days), then a 35 miler (5 days), then a year later at our insistence, a 50 Mile Hike (that one took a week and a half and involved a blizzard)!  It was amazing.

Those hikes are among the best memories I have as a teen.  My parents were the other adult couple to join us, along with our Bishop and his wife, and my younger sister was always along as well.  What's better than family time, spent outdoors, and with your best friends?

We carried everything on our backs, of course - tents, sleeping bags, clothes, and FOOD.  Some of that food was better than others, but the homemade granola was the best (just ask the bear who climbed a tree and ate our food that was hung up there, he'll tell you)!  This recipe was shared with us by our Bishop's wife, and it is still one of my favorite snacks.  Probably in part because of the wonderful, hiking-in-the-middle-of-Montana memories it invokes, but my family loves it as well, just because it tastes so darn good.

We make this when we're going on road trips, for hikes, for breakfast, for snacks.  It's so easy, so delicious, and so cheap.

It's also a super flexible recipe; as long as you have the main ingredients, you can add or subtract other options to your heart's (or your family's) content.

Thanks for the memories, Brother and Sister Collotzi.

COLLOTZI'S GRANOLA

5 c Oats - quick or rolled
1 c Coconut
1 c Sunflower seeds
1 c Sesame seeds
1 c Wheat germ
1 c Honey
1 c Vegetable oil
1 c Instant powdered milk




(Feel free to experiment with this list, although I'd recommend that you try to keep the total ratio of wet to dry ingredients the same.  For example, today I didn't have any wheat germ, so I'm adding an extra cup of sesame seeds.  Also, instead of vegetable oil, I've been using peanut butter lately - we like the peanutty flavor, and it keeps the moisture level right.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all ingredients in large bowl, then pour out into a roasting pan with sides.  Toast granola until light brown, stirring every 10 minutes.  This usually takes 20-40 minutes, depending on your oven.

This is what it looks like when it's toasted and light brown.

While baking, cover your countertop with foil or waxed paper.  When the granola is done, pour it out onto your countertop, and stir it as it cools to prevent clumps.

When it has cooled to room temperature, add any of the following ingredients.  *And don't cheat; if you don't let it cool, any chocolate you add will melt all over everything!!

Optional ingredients - Add after cooking
Nuts
Dried fruit
Raisins
M&M's
Chocolate chips
Other chips (peanut butter, butterscotch)
anything else that sounds good to you

Enjoy!

Kate