I've been making this granola for breakfast for months now. It all started when I decided to try a variety of different packaged cereals, even some expensive ones. One of my favorites was Udi's brand original granola. What I didn't like about it, though, was that it was a bit overcooked, had too much sugar, and was rather expensive--at the store where I bought it, it cost $5.50 for a 13-ounce bag. So I decided to try making it myself.
If you buy the nuts and raisins in bulk--I get them all (except the almonds) at Costco--you can cut down the price considerably. Making your own also means you can put consistent amounts of each kind of nuts in each serving and experiment and adjust those amounts to your liking.
Here's how I make it:
Heat a skillet (Warming the granola brings out the flavors of the ingredients. I used non-stick at first, but I've decided that that is unhealthy, so now I use a regular steel pan. It gets too hot very easily, so I turn the heat on and off as I'm cooking.)
Add 1 teaspoon of sunflower (or other) oil (You can omit this to be healthier. Don't get the oil so hot that it sputters.)
Add 36 g (about 3/8 C) rolled oats (They'll start to sizzle, so be ready to stir them immediately with a spatula or cooking fork. If there's sputtering or hissing, take the pan off the heat immediately or your house will smell like burnt popcorn.)
Stir after each addition, making sure to regulate the heat:
15 g (about 1/4 C) sliced blanched almonds
28 g (about 1/2 C) walnuts (These are surprisingly critical to the overall flavor. If you're lazy like me, you can break them in the pan with the spatula instead of chopping them first.)
28 g (about 1/4 C) cashews (I used the roasted, salted ones. If you use raw, you may have to add salt to the granola.)
14 g (about 1/8 C) pistachios (Mmm-mmm-mmm!)
30 g (about 1/4 C) raisins (These make the granola sweet. Without them, you'll need sugar or honey.)
1 teaspoon (about 4g) flax seeds (Very healthy. I've read that the ground seeds are healthier because your body can absorb more of the healthy oils.)
Put a banana in a bowl (NOTE: if you don't have/like bananas, this is also good with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, and/or apples!), then pour the hot granola over it and eat immediately (assuming you haven't gotten it hot enough to burn your tongue!) I used to add almond milk and honey, but the calorie count is already very high. I plugged the ingredients into fitday.com today, and I was surprised that what I thought was a 700-calorie breakfast was actually over 900 calories!! So I guess you could say this "Serves 2," although I eat it all by myself!
(Pictured served with honey, plus a giant mug of tea to wash it down--highly recommended.)
Here's the calorie breakdown:
Even worse, half the calories come from fat! (One third is considered ideal.):
But it's got lots of good nutrients:
So it's a bit of a trade-off. A+ for flavor, B+ for nutrition. C- for making me pig out.
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