dlyn

Making granola, like making yogurt or tofu, is a throwback to the Mother Earth News reading, funny cigarette smoking, barefoot live off the land types that we once were. It was an absolutely required skill for the aforementioned lifestyle and no store bought granola ever passed the threshold of our home. Not only was it not cool, it all tasted like crap after my own homemade stuff. Unfortunately, my old recipe had an unbelievable amount of oil, making it very high in fat, and as we get older, we don’t burn off fat so good, so I stopped making it. I tried a couple different store bought low fat kinds but they mostly tasted like cinnamon infused cardboard. Even if you had a wicked case of the munchies, you didn’t want to eat that junk.

Fast forward to a couple years ago, when I ran across mention of Nigella Lawson’s method of using applesauce in place of much of the oil. Did you hear that? That was angels singing my friends. Granola-loving angels, apparently. I was skeptical, because I am not always impressed with the results of this applesauce-for-fat exchanging thing that so many people are fond of. I understand it, I just don’t always love it. But this granola? This, I LOVE! If anything, it is even better than my old granola. Not only does the applesauce turn into a nice crunchy binder for all the different ingredients, but it also imparts a really nice flavor. You don’t get “applesauce” while you are eating it, you just get “delicious” and you don’t care why.

This recipe is very adjustable. Even without all of the fat a traditional granola recipe contains, the coconut and nuts add a fair number of calories, so you can cut those back or make sustitutions if you like. I always used to add raw pepitos, or shelled pumpkin seeds, but I didn’t have any when I made this batch. I will also buy sliced almonds, and use fewer of them. The smaller pieces will distibute throughout better, but I won’t add them until the last 15 minutes, or they will get too brown. I used flaked wheat and barley, instead of just oats too. I like the varied flavor better than just plain old fashioned oats. You can find those in health food stores, and there are plenty of sources online for them.

You need two large baking sheets – I lined them with parchment paper, because I’m lazy and don’t like scrubbing sheet pans much.

In a large bowl, measure out 6 cups of cereal grains. I used 2 cups each of old fashioned [not “quick”] oats, barley flakes and wheat flakes.1 cup each chopped almonds, pecans and flaked coconut1/2 cup sesame seeds, 1/4 cup light brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground ginger. Mix it all together until well blended – I just used my hands.In a saucepan, measure
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup honey [more if you like a sweeter granola]
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tabespoons vanilla extract
Heat through and stir until completely incorporated. Pour over dry ingredients and mix together until uniformly blended.Divide evenly between sheet pans and spread out. Bake at 300 degrees for about 45 minutes. You need to keep it stirred around or it will clump too much, so I set the timer for 10 minutes at a time, because other wise I would probably forget. It is done when it’s uniformly browned. It wont crisp up until it cools off. As soon as you remove it from the oven, stir in dried fruit. I used 1/2 cup each dried cherries, chopped, dried nectarines and currants. Mix into the cereal mixture, and then let everything cool right on the pans. The residual heat will help meld the fruit into the rest a bit, without getting it all dry and hard.Granola will keep for weeks in a sealed container. Not that it’s likely to last for weeks. Sit down with a bowl and spoon, the milk of your choice and the latest issue of Mother Earth News. While you enjoy this incredible granola, you can read up on growing some new kinds of veggies next summer, or building a greenhouse maybe. Being barefoot is optional. It’s pretty cold here right now, so I’m wearing heavy socks and slippers.Trust me – the 70’s didn’t taste this good.