Homemade Granola

When my dear friend R asked his grandmother if she was working class British or wealthy British, her reply was (in her very British accent) “I make me own breakfast!”  Well, for those of us who make our own breakfast, I offer you my granola recipe.

Since I do not like my granola overly sweet, and I choose not to spend my husband’s weekly salary on what is basically oats and nuts, I choose to make my own.  I eat this every day for breakfast because I do not like to have to think about what to eat first thing in the morning.  I am far too hungry to contemplate such difficult decisions.  In honor of R’s grandmother, I call it:

I MAKE ME OWN BREAKFAST GRANOLA

2 cups sunflower seeds

1 ten ounce bag sliced almonds (about 2 cups)

3 cups chopped walnuts

1/2 cup millet

4 cups old fashioned oats

1/3 cup canola oil

1/2 cup honey

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon almond extract

raisins

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.  In a very large bowl, combine seeds, nuts, and grains.  In a smaller bowl, combine all other ingredients and stir well to combine.  Pour the liquid over the dry ingredients and stir well.  Spread over two large baking sheets and bake for about an hour, until dry and toasted, rotating pans and stirring every twenty minutes.

I store it in a large glass jar in my kitchen.  I find that if you add the raisins to the jar, they tend to sink to the bottom.  Since I am particular about my oats-to-raisin ratio, I add my raisins to the bowl before pouring in the soymilk.  I also like to add a spoonful of ground flax seeds, which gives you a nice dose of omega threes, and also tastes delicious.

You can use any combination of nuts and seeds that you like, as long as the proportions are the same.  You can also vary your sweetener.  I have used maple syrup, agave nectar, brown rice syrup, and molasses.  For a different flavor, you could also add ground ginger or a different flavored extract.