The WORLD’s Best Granola!!

Well, at least hubby and I think it’s the best granola in the world!  
First off, let me set the record straight in case any of you get the 
notion that I like to cook.  I do not.  
I have done it for the last 25+ years and will continue to do it out of necessity.

I have told hubby that in my dreams when he retires he will take over ALL of the cooking.  I’ll clean up any day! Not like that will happen any time soon.  He really enjoys cooking, he just works sooo many hours that he can’t.  
Oh, well, He does make me breakfast on the weekends, so I’m grateful for that!  What I do enjoy, is baking.  That’s because  I am a sugaraholic and I love sweets way tooo much. Anyway, enough of that, on to the WORLD’s Best Granola!!

Your mouth is starting to water, isn't it.... 
I know the feeling....

So, I’m a little picky about my granola…. Don’t give me that soft chewy stuff, I like it hard and crunchy!  Plus I don’t like it to be high in fat or sugar. I know, I know I really want more sugar to feed my addiction, but a girl has to draw the line somewhere….  So, here’s where I drew it…

_____________________________________________

at least for granola….

This recipe I tweeked until I got it just right. 

It had to be perfect, we use this stuff almost everyday!

So here it is…..  

Preheat oven 300 degrees.

Get out a 9X13 pan.

Add 2 ½ cups of old fashioned oats

Add ¼ cup of ground flax seed (this is wonderful for digestion & Walmart has it!)

Add ¼ cup of brown sugar (I prefer light brown)

Then add 1 tsp. of cinnamon and ½ tsp. of salt

This is sooo easy to make…. Mix this until well blended. 

I usually have to mash the brown sugar to break it up.

Now in a small cereal bowl, that you can microwave in.

Add 1 Tbl.  of oil

(it really doesn’t matter what kind, I think I used canola.)

and add ½ cup of applesauce.

(I used natural unsweetened, and we really don’t go through that much, so I keep these little cups on hand, they are perfect for this!)

Then add 1 Tbl. of honey.

(Use the same measuring spoon as the oil and
 the honey will slip right into the bowl!)

We are almost done!!
  Mix that around and pop it into the microwave oven for 30 seconds on high.  
Stir and repeat.

Now just add the applesauce mix into the oats mix
 and stir, stir, stir until it is well blended and coated.

Now I set 2 timers…. One for 1 hour and the other for 10 minutes.  
Only because I could keep setting the one for 10 minutes, but I would inevitably forget how many times I had set it.  So, now no thinking!

This needs to be stirred every 10 minutes for 1 hour.

Let it cool, and store it in a plastic container.  It doesn’t need to be refrigerated.

Okay, so I forgot to take a picture of it finished... 
Well, it should stir easier and it has a nice dark caramel color to it.
Plus everyone in the house will ask you if you're baking an apple pie. 
It smells delish!

Then make one of these…

This is my absolute favorite lunch! I dump a light Activia vanilla yogurt in my bowl with a ¼ cup of the WORLD’s Best Granola add blueberries ( I know fresh is best, but we are still technically in winter and the ones available aren’t all that great, frozen works for me!!)

Dig in!!  This is amazing!

So, here’s the recipe you can copy if you like.  Enjoy!!

WORLD’s Best Granola!

2 ½ c. old fashioned oats

¼ c. ground flax seed

¼ c. brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. salt

½ c. unsweetened applesauce

1 Tbl. oil

1 Tbl. honey

Preheat oven to 300.

In 9X13 pan mix first 5 ingredients and mix, set aside.

In a small bowl mix remaining 3 ingredients and heat in microwave for 30 sec. on high.  Stir, then repeat.

Mix applesauce mix into the oats mix and stir until well coated.

Bake for 60 minutes, stirring mixture every 10 minutes.  Use 2 timers so you don’t lose track like me…  Cool and eat!  Yum!


Blessings,