Homemade Granola

        My sister, Paige, introduced me to this recipe almost 10 years ago.  I never made it, but I did enjoy it when she would give me some for Christmas or whenever I was in town.   So last Saturday Ruthie and I were both craving some good granola.  We missed not having some of my sister's granola, so we thought we would try our hand at it.  I pulled out my sister's recipe, went to our local Co-op (which by-the-way, is the best place to find these ingredients in bulk) and started making it.

      I need to stop here for a second.  Granola is a personal preference thing.  I personally, like my granola to have a rich caramel taste with lots of toasted nutty background.  I also like it to be "chunky" with nuggets of granola pieces.  I made this twice.  Once without deviating from the original recipe, and the second time with my own personal tweaks.  I am going to post my version, but I am going to let you look at the original version posted by Katy Marquez Carter who makes it regularly.  Like I said before, granola is a personal thing and this recipe should be tweaked to your liking.  The recipe came from one of my sister's close friend's mother who everyone calls "Ms. Hellmann," so the recipe is named after her, Ms. Hellmann's Granola.  I have had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Hellmann on several occasions and somehow the conversation always revolved around food and recipes.  She loves to cook and she loves to share with others.  So here is a recipe that has been shared many times over.

Ms. Hellmann's Granola

Mix together in a very large bowl:

8 cups old-fashioned (not quick-cooking) rolled oats
1 cup raw wheat germ
1 cup oat bran
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
2 cup nuts (I use sliced almonds)

In a microwaveable medium-sized bowl, combine

3/4 cup water
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 TB molasses
2 tsp salt
Microwave for about 3 minutes, or until the sugar dissolves. Stir well, then add to the liquid mixture

1TB vanilla extract

Pour the liquid mixture over the oat mixture, and stir very well, so that all the dry ingredients are coated.  Mix by hand for a few minutes until the mixture starts to stick together and form globules.  Add:

3/4 cup vegetable oil (I use canola)

By adding the oil after the granola starts to clump together ensures the granola will be more chunky since the oil has a lubricating characteristic and will prevent the granola from forming sticky chunks.  If you like a more uniform granola with no chunks, then add the oil to the liquid ingredients in the first step
 Press gently into the pans ( I divide into two half sheet pans and then with a silpat or parchment paper press down on the mixture to form a tight cake on the cookie sheet), trying to keep an even thickness to prevent over-browning. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove pans from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes (very important in maintaining large granola chunks) and using a spatula, gently flip and stir chunks of the granola, then return pans to the oven. Bake another 15 minutes, or until your desired toasty-golden-color is reached.  I find it needs 15 more minutes with a seconds turn to get an even browning and toasting.  Again, I am going for a caramally. toasty nutty goodness which needs a little more cooking.  Remove the pans to cooling racks and let cool completely (granola will dry out and turn crunchy as it cools).  Break up extra large pieces if necessary.