Heather’s Favorite Fruit and Nut Granola

Well, it is my favorite, but it’s not like I tested umpteen recipes.  I got lucky and hit gold with the first granola recipe I tried.  I can’t remember where the recipe came from, but I’m sure I’ve tweaked it enough to call it mine.  This is easy, squeezy to make, and it’s delicious.  It can be customized to suit any palate - only a few ingredients are set in stone.  The rest is entirely up to what you like.

Back when I made this to sell, I bought all my ingredients at the health food store which is rather pricey.  For this photo recipe, I bought everything at my local grocery so that anyone can find the ingredients and get good results for less moolah. I usually double the recipe, because it goes pretty fast around here. I’m going to give you the original recipe here, but note that the pictures show a double batch.

The granola can be cooked in the oven, but like I said, I used to make huge batches, so I invested in an electric oven.

Let’s get started.  Here is the cast of characters:

See that box of flax seed on the left there in the top photo? Ignore it. It’s not called for in the original recipe. I found it on sale, so decided to use it this time. See? You can do whatever you want!The pic on the bottom shows the fruits (and almonds) I decided to add this time around.  Let’s get started: 

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. 

In a small saucepan, heat 1/2 cup olive oil and 1/4 cup honey.  Pour into an oven-safe pan like a dutch oven.

Add about 5 cups of oatmeal and 1 cup of the oat bran.  Stir, stir, stir to coat it all with the oil/honey mixture.  This is what it will look like:

Not very exciting, is it? Just put it in the oven for 15 minutes, while you chop your fruit. For this recipe I used dried figs, apricots, raisins, blueberries, and slivered almonds. But in the past, I’ve also used dried cranberries, cherries, mango, papaya, pineapple. Really any dried fruit that you like will probably work very well. For the larger fruit like apricots, use your kitchen shears to cut them into bite-size pieces.  I cut up the figs and the apricots.  I also decided to use pecans at the last minute and broke up about a cup of those.

After 15 minutes, add the fruit and nuts, and give it a good stir once again. 

Cook for 3 more 15-minute increments, stirring after each one. That will give it a total time of one hour in the oven. Just be careful toward the end that it doesn’t burn. You might want to lower the temp during the last 15 minutes.

That’s it! Take it out of the oven and let it cool before you package it up.  Here is one gift packaging idea that I like a lot.  I went to the antique consignment shop and found an old glass bowl.  This one is actually a candy dish with a missing lid.  I also found a sterling silver spoon.  So, for about the same price as a gift bag and a greeting card, I had a pretty impressive gift presentation.

Oh, yeah. Here’s the recipe for printing.

Favorite Fruit and Nut Granola

1/2 cup olive oil (or whatever oil you like)
1/4 cup honey
5 cups oatmeal (not instant)
1 cup oat bran
1 pkg slivered almonds
1/2 cup pecan pieces
1 bag dried apricots, chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 to 1 cup of other dried fruit (your choice)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In small saucepan, heat oil and honey.
Pour oatmeal and oat bran into an oven-proof pan.
Pour oil/honey mixture over.
Stir until all oatmeal is well-coated.
Bake 15 minutes. Add fruit and nuts. Stir.
Bake 15 minutes. Stir.
Bake 15 minutes. Stir.
Bake 15 minutes. Stir. Let cool completely.
Store in jars or plastic bags.
Enjoy!

Note:  If you like your granola less chewy, add the dried fruits after the oats have cooked.