by Nikou

Created on: September 02, 2010

Granola: The Ultimate Healthy Breakfast

Most people who are even slightly health conscious know about granola and it's health benefits. High in fiber, low in cholesterol, low-sodium, etc. However, most kinds of granola available are dripping with fat and oil. It makes it nice and tender-crisp, without a lot of work on the part of the manufacturer. So, the best way to avoid this, is to make your own.

Make my own, you ask, how do I do that? I don't know how to cook, and if the manufacturers don't want to do it, how can humble little me make a fat free granola? That's what I thought, too, until I tried it. It's really very easy, if you follow a few simple guidelines.

First, choose premium ingredients. I know, we've all heard it before, the best ingredients make the best finished product, but it really is true. If you get the cheaper oats, nuts, raisins, or whatever, you could be in for a surprise (not pleasant) when you find those raisin seeds in your granola (very tough to eat around...). Rolled oats are the standard base, though I've mixed this with other rolled grains for a little bit of variety. Add your favorite nuts and seeds, as well as some dried fruit (raisins, and other fruits cut in raisin sized pieces). Nuts should be coarsely chopped, unless you want to crunch down whole almonds in your granola (not very easy, trust me).

At this point, most recipes simply consist of honey and oil, which makes for a very easy, tasty, tender granola, but not exactly healthy. I use a recipe that blends fruits, water, and your choice of sweetener (you can use chopped dates, honey, maple syrup, sugar, fruit sweetener, condensed fruit juice, whatever). I am personally using maple syrup at the moment, though I've used honey, and will use others in the future. It's nice to have the choice, and it adds variety in the flavor. Your fruit choices will also effect the flavor, so experiment.

After blending your liquid mixture thoroughly smooth, then pour it over your dry mixture, and use a rubber spatula to mix it very thoroughly. If you use oil, you can give it a quick toss, and it will turn out good. But oil-free requires a few minutes more time. Make sure that every oat flake is moist. Fold in the liquid until you can see that every bit of the dry mixture is wet. This step is crucial, or it just won't turn out very good.

Baking is the next important step. Spread your mixture about a half inch thick on ungreased cookie sheets, and put them in the oven.  Baking temperature

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