Crunchy Whole Grain Granola
May 14th, 2007
I have been on a recent campaign to lower my grocery bill, and in the process am learning where some of my overspending is going on.
One major hot spot in the grocery for spending too much is the cereal/breakfast aisle. Like millions of moms out there, I’m not crazy about the idea of frying eggs every morning, even though I know that eggs are one of the best (and least expensive) things to feed my kids in the morning.
Pouring milk over cereal is oh-so-much easier! It seems like the cheapest breakfast cereals are mostly made of sugar. No-name frosted flakes, for instance, cost me 9 cents per ounce. On the other hand, our favorite brand of granola, which is still sugary, but is also a whole-grain, costs over 25 cents per ounce. Yikes! That’s quite a difference.
So, last Friday, while grocery shopping, I put back both the frosted flakes and the granola and bought a tall cylinder of Old-Fashioned Oats for under 5 cents per ounce and decided to try making my own granola.
I searched for what I knew I wanted: Crunchy Granola, and found it on the Food Network website. I wanted simple, no frills, no fruit, brown-sugar-flavored granola that I could pour milk over for a quick and inexpensive breakfast. And that is exactly what I found. I give all credit to the food network and don’t mind saying so.
Crunchy Granola
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. water
4 t. vanilla
1 t. salt
8 c. old-fashioned oats
2 c. chopped pecans
Heat your oven to 275 and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. This acts as insulation and will keep the oats from scorching on the hot pan. In the microwave or on the stovetop, combine and heat the brown sugar and water. Heat until all of the sugar is dissolved and you have a nice syrup.
Next, remove the syrup from the heat and add the vanilla and salt. In a large bowl, combine the oats and nuts and pour the syrup over it. Stir well. Pour this out onto the cookie sheets and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. You may want to stir it about halfway through, but I don’t think it’s necessary.
Take it out at the end of the cooking time and let cool. Store in sealed containers or baggies.
Entry Filed under: Breakfast, Old-Fashioned Foods, Recipes
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