Granola

When I make granola I make a large portion because I like to have it to eat for breakfast and to snack on. As long as its stored in an airtight container, it lasts pretty well. We always eat it all within a week to ten days. Granola is easy to make, and my biggest problem is having all the ingredients in the house at the same time. That's why I often just make substitutes based on what I have on hand.

Granola

2 cups rolled oats*

2 cups rye flakes*

2 cups speltflakes*

2 cups barleyflakes*

2 tablespoons ground flax seed

2 tablespoons chia seeds

¼ cup datesugar

½ cups sunflower seeds

½ cups pumpkin seeds

2 cups walnuts or almonds

2 cups dried berries, cherries, and/or raisins**

½ cup cranberry juice, or other fruit juice***

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cardamom

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together oats, flax seed, chia seeds, date sugar, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and nuts in a large bowl.

Stir in fruit juice, spices, and vanilla. Mix well.

Spread oat mixture evenly in 2-3 large rimmed baking sheets.

Bake 20 minutes or until oats turn a golden brown color.

Remove from oven. Stir in dried fruit. Allow to cool completely in pans.

Store in an airtight container.

Serve as cereal with plant-based milk or dry for a snack.

* You can use a mix of these grains, other grains, or just one grain for  your granola. I like this particular mix, so that's what I use.

** I used a combination of dried blueberries, mulberries, goji berries, cherries, and golden raisins in this particular batch.

*** While fruit juice can be a bit high in sugars, it helps the spices stick to the other ingredients and seems to help with the browning a tiny bit. For that reason, I'd suggest not omitting the fruit juice. That said, please make sure you use a fruit juice that doesn't have added sweeteners.

Note: I use organic ingredients whenever possible.