More Granola (you know you want it!)

Hey, readers!

So before I left for California, in addition to packing, cleaning the house and trying (but failing) to get the emissions test done on my car, I also found time to finally try out my friend Emily's granola recipe!!! No applause until after you've tried it. Because you're going to need to try it. And then you'll really want to clap.

First, the recipe:

Emily's Granola
4 1/4 cup rolled oats
2 c slivered almonds (I just use the 1 2/3 cup/6 oz bag usually)
1/2 c wheat germ
1 c coconut
1 tsp salt
1/2 c canola oil (you can use vegetable/corn oil)
1 can low-fat sweetened condensed milk
dried blueberries or craisins (I put in 2 large handfuls)

Mix all together in a large bowl. Spread out on a sheetcake pan. Toast at 350 for 14 minutes. Stir. Toast 10 more minutes watching the last few minutes to make sure it does not burn. If you want it more moist you can use just 4 cups of oats.


And, naturally, I have to stick in my own review, too.

We loved it. It was hilarious to watch Craig's first few bites, because he looked so skeptical (it's always hard when you already have such high expectations, so he was trying to not expect Kat's granola). Then he suddenly smiled, nodded, and just said, "Oh, yeah." I had used blueberry-infused craisins (because they were cheaper than actual dried blueberries), and the granola tasted like blueberry muffins. But granola. It was great. And also a lot easier to make than the other recipe (partly because there are less ingredients to measure, but also because it has less steps and bakes hecka faster), so that's definitely a plus. I suspect it's not quite as healthy, so there is that to consider. But I'm not going to worry too much about that-- granola is inherently at least a little bit healthy, right??? And it also doesn't make as much. Yeah, yeah, you could double it (or halve Kat's recipe, I suppose), but then it wouldn't be quite as super easy as it is. So for now I'm not doing any doubling.

Anyway. I now have two great granola recipes! And you do, too!

Thanks, Emily!



P.S. I said in my previous post that I never bothered making this the first time I tried it because I couldn't find all the ingredients. Um, why was this so hard? I think I could tell you which aisle every single one of those ingredients is found in at SuperTarget. Apparently I have come a LONG WAY in my ability to grocery shop!