If you love sugary cereals, I highly recommend you explore the realm of granola. This basic recipe has all of the same addictive, delicious qualities as Cinnamon Toast Crunch or Honey Nut Cheerios, but with the perk of being homemade.
Using all natural ingredients from your kitchen pantry, you can easily customize granola to your liking. When a craving strikes for that prized bowl of cereal, you may find yourself reaching for granola, instead.
My favorite granola recipe is my mom’s personal twist on the oat staple. Each time she whips up a batch, our house fills with the warm, sweet smell of cinnamon and brown sugar. Her granola is not only the best mixture of its kind, but a satisfying snack universally loved by those who try it. She can barely bring out the tray before family and visitors dig in.
My mom will bake large batches for me to bring to school, send Ziploc bags to my friends and always keeps a container in our pantry completely stuffed with granola at all times. Many lucky tasters purely associate my mom with the chocolatey, crunchy, salty-sweet, mouth-watering snack, going so far as to only remember me as the daughter of a culinary mastermind.
What makes my mom’s recipe so special is, on top of its delectable, candy-like flavor, it’s actually quite good for you. Some granola recipes are as artificial as common breakfast cereal, but her granola is bursting with hidden benefits.
Granola is a filling food that can be eaten almost any time of day. With low cholesterol and sodium levels and a high dietary fiber content, this crunchy treat boosts metabolic function and promotes digestion. A variety of nuts, seeds and coconut in your mixture can also increase antioxidant levels and reduce inflammation. They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day; a bowl of hearty granola first thing in the morning can substantially improve your cognitive performance and lift your mood.
For these reasons and more, granola is seriously the best snack. After years of perfecting an unmatched recipe, my mom’s granola is the only way to enjoy this oat-filled wonder. The textures and flavor alone will leave your taste buds in complete awe.
World’s Greatest Granola
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat oven to 300 F.
In a large bowl, mix together the oats, pistachios (or other nuts), coconut and pumpkin seeds.
In a small saucepan set over low heat, warm the sugar, syrup and olive oil until the sugar has just dissolved. Remove from heat and fold liquid into the mixture of oats, making sure to coat the dry ingredients well.
Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and spread granola mixture out evenly. Bake for 30 minutes, or until dry and lightly golden.
Sprinkle raisins and cinnamon on top, and bake for 10 more minutes.
Remove granola from the oven and sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Do not mix. Allow granola to cool at room temperature and harden.
Using your hands, break the sheet of granola into pieces and transfer it to a storage container. Enjoy with your favorite milk, on top of yogurt or on its own!