Granola Recipe

I love granola, but it's so expensive to buy at the store! That's why we started making our own and I'm so glad we did. Like most things, you just can't beat that homemade taste. I've had to start making this in a double batch because we go through it so fast! Add some milk to it for cereal, throw some on top of your yogurt, or just eat it buy itself for a quick snack. It's relatively simple to make, really flexible, and packed full of nutrition.

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water
A few twists of the salt grinder (Probably about 1/4 teaspoon.)
4 cups rolled oats (This is really where you can get creative. Substitute part of this for dried fruits, seeds, nuts, chocolate chips... the possibilities are endless.)
Palm full of cinnamon (About 1 teaspoon.)

Start off by melting your butter in a large saucepan. Add your brown sugar and water and stir together. Let this simmer for a couple minutes then add the salt and cinnamon. Give it a quick stir, remove from the burner, and stir in your oats, seeds, nuts, etc. but DO NOT add your dried fruit or candy just yet. Make sure your keep stirring until all of the dry ingredients are coated with the butter/sugar mixture. Spread this out in a cake pan as thin as you can and cook it for 10-15 minutes in a 375 degree oven. When your edges start to get brown, take it out. Let it cool in the pan and then break the granola into smaller pieces, add in your dried fruit and/or candy if you choose to, and store away. This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.