Almond Granola

Before we get started, let me remind you that granola is not diet food. It is not low in calories, and it's really not all that low in fat, even though the fats in this recipe are good fats. I will probably play with and tweak a granola recipe to get something that somewhat lower-calorie than this one, but I was craving granola with almonds and coconut. That's about half the calories of this recipe in just those two items! That having been said, don't pig out on this stuff.

Because I like to sprinkle granola in my yogurt I didn't make this with any dried fruit, such as raisins. However, if I'm having a bowl of granola with milk on it, I do like to add 1-2 tablespoons of dried cranberries or raisins for flavor and that extra little something that fruit adds to a good bowl of granola.


Almond Granola
(305 calories per 3/4 c. serving. Recipe makes 6 cups/8 servings.)

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1/4 c. wheat germ or milled flax seed
1 c. flaked coconut
1/4 c. canola or olive oil
1/4 c. honey
1 Tbsp molasses

Combine oatmeal, almonds, wheat germ/flax seed, and coconut in a large bowl. Mix well.

In a liquid measuring cup, combine honey, oil, and molasses. Mix as much as possible.

Drizzle about half of the oil mixture on top of the oatmeal mixture and mix until you've coated as much of the oatmeal as possible. Drizzle the rest and repeat. By the time you've got it all drizzled on and mixed, all of the oatmeal mixture should have a light coating of the oil mixture.

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Spread the uncooked granola on the sheet as evenly as possible.

Bake in a preheated oven at 250 for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring about every 15 minutes or so. Remove from oven and let cool. Store at room temperature in a sealed plastic container.