If you don’t love oatmeal, what about granola?
The kid loves his bowl of oatmeal for breakfast three days a week. The husband can eat quinoa oatmeal for weeks on end. Me? Not so much. I want to love oatmeal, I really do. It is healthy, cheap, and quick…all very admirable qualities. But I just can’t love it the way my family does, not without a lot of doctoring up. Enter granola.
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I really do love granola. Yet it can be expensive to buy at the store, especially if you pay attention to the ingredients used. Therefore, I started making my own. It shocked me how easy it was to make and why didn’t I start making it years ago? And now I typically make a batch before any camping trip as an easy snack to have around.
What we love about Basic Granola:
- It’s easy to make
- Uses everyday ingredients
- Fun to change it up
The Ingredients:
- Oats (we’re making granola after all)
- Almonds (I like to add a little nuttiness)
- Sea salt (to enhance the flavor)
- Cinnamon and/or Ginger (to give it a punch)
- Olive oil (to help with coating
- Honey (for some sweetness)
- Vanilla (we make our own)
The Process:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl combine your oats, almonds, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. Stir thoroughly.
- In another bowl combine your oil, honey, and vanilla. Then mix into your dry ingredients. Stir thoroughly.
- Turn granola into your prepared pan and use a large spoon or spatula to spread it into an even layer.
- Bake for 15 minutes and stir. Bake for another 10-15 minutes keeping an eye (and nose) on the granola. It should turn a light golden color.
- Pull the pan out and press firmly to create clumps as it cools and crisps.
- If you plan to add anything you will want to wait until after it is completely cool.
- Store the granola in an airtight container for 1 to 2 weeks.
FAQ and How to Customize:
Q: How exact do we need to stay to a recipe?
A: The most important thing to remember about making basic granola is the ratio of six to one. You want six parts dry to one part wet and beyond that you can vary the flavor profile to your taste buds.
Q: What sorts of things can we add to the basic granola?
A: Our base is usually five cups oats, one cup sliced almonds, 1/2 cup honey, 1/2 cup olive oil, and some seasonings and we maintain that ratio of dry to wet. Beyond that, experiment! Don’t like almonds? Try some pecans or walnuts. I love to combine cinnamon and ginger but you might want to use nutmeg or five spice powder.
Q: Do I need to use parchment paper?
A: After combining all my ingredients I push it down into a pan lined with parchment paper. For the longest time I didn’t bother with the parchment paper, and I would be disappointed. The paper really does help with the baking and, bonus points, my paper is compostable so I’m not adding to the landfill.
Q: How long does this last? How do you store it?
A. The basic granola lasts us a week to ten days in an airtight container, then I pull out my supplies and make another batch! If I have added other items we try to eat it more quickly.
Suggested Add-ins:
As I mentioned, we don’t typically add anything else unless we are making it into trail mix. But when we do that, I usually add some craisins and some dark chocolate chips. That makes me happy.
Suggested Method of Eating:
I love to make a yogurt parfait with my granola when I am eating it for breakfast. If I’m enjoying it as a snack, I eat it as is.
Equipment Needed:
- Half-sheet Pan
- Parchment Paper
- Two Bowls
- Spoon and/or Spatula
More Make-Ahead Snacks to Enjoy:
- Energy Balls
- Snack Packs
- Spicy Crackers
If you wish to add dried fruits or sweets like chocolate chips, we recommend waiting until after your granola has cooled off.
We typically do not add anything unless we are making some trail mix for an outing. However, we’d love to know what you put in your granola. Tag us on Instagram @campinganswer and let us know!
Basic Granola
Ingredients
- 5 cups oats
- 1 cup sliced almonds
- 3/4 tsp fine grained sea salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl combine your oats, almonds, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. Stir thoroughly.
- In another bowl combine your oil, honey, and vanilla. Then mix into your dry ingredients. Stir thoroughly.
- Turn granola into your prepared pan and use a large spoon or spatula to spread it into an even layer.
- Bake for 15 minutes and stir. Bake for another 10-15 minutes keeping an eye (and nose) on the granola. It should turn a light golden color.
- Pull the pan out and press firmly to create clumps as it cools and crisps.
- If you plan to add anything you will want to wait until after it is completely cool.
- Store the granola in an airtight container for 1 to 2 weeks.