Homemade Granola - Pioneer Woman

By peridot728

What fun! This Homemade Granola is crispy, crunchy, sweet, pungent, a little salty. Easy to make. Packed with nutrition. I plan to never run out of this granola. It's the best I've ever had. Follow the directions exactly. The METHOD is the key to its success.

Ingredients

• 6 cups rolled oats (not quick oats)
• 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted, plus more for greasing the baking sheet
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal, such as Rice Krispies
• 1 cup wheat germ
• 1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup shelled sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup almonds, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup flax seeds

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a bowl, toss the oats with the oil, melted butter and salt. Spread the mixture out on 2 baking sheets and toast in the oven for 12 minutes, shaking the pans twice during the cooking time and making sure the oats don't burn. Set aside to cool a bit.

Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar, honey, apple juice and molasses. Stir the mixture until combined, then heat over medium heat, stirring, until barely bubbling. Stir in the vanilla extract.

Toss together the toasted oats, rice cereal, wheat germ, pecans, sunflower seeds, almonds and flax seeds. Pour in the sugar mixture, stirring as you pour. Toss to combine; it will be sticky!

Thoroughly grease a baking sheet or line it with greased foil. Tip the mixture onto the baking sheet, spread out and bake until golden, about 30 minutes. Let cool, then use a fork to make clusters. Store in a jar until ready to use.