My Dad's Granola

For as long as I can remember, my dad's had a yellow recipe box.
It's french's mustard-yellow plastic and holds 3x5 cards,
relatively few, really, considering it's been his box for 30-some years.
The recipes include the ever-guarded Moyer eggnog and dated revisions,
a crab quiche from his bachelor years living in The Glass House,
sangria, SOS, key lime pie, and a recipe for granola. The granola recipe
surfaced sometime in the last decade. I don't know where it came from,
but since it's one of the five things my father cooks and loves,
I figured I'd try it.

The biggest difference between this one and the one I've been making
is the butter. Once you combine melted butter and honey,
you have something near perfection and teetering on dessert.
Eating this granola feels a bit more like eating the top off of a cobbler,
which, of course, is delicious.

Here is the recipe in its true form. I substituted a lot to use what I had.
The beauty of granola is that nearly anything works. Enjoy*

Homer's Granola

2 c rolled oats (I used quick -- makes a crumblier granola, less ideal)
3/4 c unsweetened coconut (I only had sweetened and then used less honey/syrup)
1 and 1/4 c nuts and seeds (I used sliced almonds, walnuts, pecans, pine nuts)
recipe calls for 1/4 c sesame seeds
1/4 c slivered blanched almonds
1/4 c whole hazelnuts, peeled or unpeeled
1/4 c raw pumpkin seeds
1/4 c cashew halves
1/4 c + 1 T unsalted butter
1/4 c honey
1/4 c maple syrup (I only used honey)

-preheat oven to 300
-melt butter, add honey and syrup, pull off heat once simmers, set aside
(I melted butter in microwave)
-in large bowl combine oats, coc0nut, nuts
-combine butter mixture and oats mixture
-spread thinly onto sheet pans lined with parchment or onto buttered pans (I used plain pan)
-bake at 300 20-30+ minutes, stirring every 5-10 minutes to ensure even browning
-let cool on rack, store, label, date

voila!

Granola

I can't really imagine making dinner again any time soon -- it's been a while -- but baking still appeals. I was reading katie did the other day and saw her recipe for granola; I've never made granola so I gave it a try. Here's the recipe (with a few variations):

Granola

-in a big bowl combine:
5 c oats
1 c wheat germ
1 c whole wheat flour (more flour makes the granola softer)
1 c coconut
2 c nuts (I am not a big fan of seeds in my granola, so I used a mixture of chopped pecans, sliced almonds, and pine nuts -- pistachios would also be great -- but if you love seeds, add them here)

-in a separate bowl, mix
2 T vanilla
1/4 c water
1 c honey (you could definitely use 1 1/2-2 cups for sweeter -- or use part honey and part maple syrup)
1/2 c oil (or a mixture of oil and butter)

-mix wet and dry together
-spread on cookie sheets (I used 3, you could probably get away with 2)
-bake at 250 for ~ 2 hours (mine came out very crunchy, so I wonder what it would be like to -cook it for 1 1/2 hrs or 1 hr 45 min)
-after the first 40 minutes, stir granola ever 15 min or so
-either at the end of baking or just before it comes out, add dried fruit --- I used diced apricots and crasins
-cool completely
-store in an airtight container either in the fridge or pantry.
delicious with milk, yogurt, to snack on -- yum.