Recipe: Get Nutty With Homemade Granola

From the woman who brings you the comes this delicious recipe for homemade granola. Unlike store-bought granola, Amy Pugliesi’s blend of oats, wheat germ, oat bran, nuts and seeds is all natural and about as healthy as you can get.

The resident often makes this to eat as cereal or as a snack for herself, her husband or their 10-year-old daughter, Bianca.

Pugliesi alters the recipe to make it as whole and natural as possible. For instance, she uses raw nuts, soaking them for 5-6 hours in water–less for softer nuts such as cashews–then roasted in a 150-degree oven for 6-8 hours, raw honey and Sucanat cane sugar instead of refined sugar.

“I use gluten-free oats and I like raw honey because it has natural enzymes to aid in digestion and it has trace amounts of potassium, calcium and phosphorous,” she explained. “It’s known for its antibacterial and antifungal properties. The bottom line I’ve learned with health is that easy digestion is a key so that the vitamins and minerals you consume get absorbed and utilized by your cells."

After you make a couple of batches, you can start to experiment with what you like, Pugliesi said, noting there are lots of options.

The recipe:

• 4 cups oats
• 2 cups wheat germ
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 300 degrees and mix dry ingredients together.

Blend the following in a separate bowl:

• 1 cup brown or cane sugar
• 3/4 cup canola oil (or 1/2 cup raw honey and 1/2 cup light sesame or almond oil)
• 2 tablespoon vanilla

Pour mixture over dry ingredients until coated thoroughly and evenly. Bake at 300 degrees, stirring every 20 minutes until granola starts to get golden brown.

Add the following and bake another 20 minutes.

• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup oat bran

Bake until the color is your preference and remove from the oven.

After it is cooled, stir in 1 cup each of raisins or other dried fruit like cherries or cranberries. Date pieces are also a good addition.

Pugliesi said she soaks natural raisins in water before adding, as it makes them even sweeter.