This is by far the best granola and better than any store bought I’ve ever had. I was inspired by Ina Garten’s recipe. This Homemade Granola recipe is in her first cookbook, “The Barefoot Contessa”. She’s my idol and I love the fact that she’s not a trained chef but knows how to cook and her recipes never fail me.
This homemade granola has a lot of goodness in it, there are a bunch of dried fruit and you can use any kind of dried fruit that you like. I followed her recipe and used dried apricots, figs, cherries and cranberries. Hey, the more the merrier, right…? For nuts, there are almonds and cashews. There’s also shredded coconut. I love to sprinkle it over yogurt or in a bowl with some milk or even just eat it as snack.
This recipe makes about 12 cups. It’s the biggest batch I’ve ever made and I stored it in an airtight container. We’ll see how long it will last, I just can’t stop eating it. It’s crunchy, sweet but not too sweet and I love that I can taste the toasted coconut in every bite. The secret is I try to get everything in one bite which requires some talent and a large mouth. ha ha…
O.k. Enough with the talking. Let’s cook some food!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Add the the oats, coconut and almonds together in a large bowl.
Toss everything together.
Add vegetable oil and honey in a small bowl. My trick, measure the oil first, then use the same measuring cup for honey. The honey will literally just slide on out.
Whisk until combined.
Pour the liquid mixture over the oat mixture.
Stir with a wooden spoon (or use 2 like me) until all the oats and nuts are coated.
Spread onto a 13 x 18-inch baking sheet.
Bake, stir occasionally until the mixture turns a nice and even golden brown, about 40-45 minutes.
While waiting, dice the apricots. Look at the pretty yellow-orange color!
Dice the figs.
Remove the granola from the oven and allow to cool, stir occasionally.
Add the apricots, figs, cherries, cranberries and cashews.
Mix everything together.
Serve on top of yogurt or with some cold milk.
Store the rest in an airtight container. I hope you give this Homemade Granola a try, the recipe card is below.
- 4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 2 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
- 2 cups sliced almonds
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup honey
- 1½ cups small-diced dried apricots
- 1 cup small-diced dried figs
- 1 cup dried cherries
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup roasted, unsalted cashews
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Toss the oats, coconut, and almonds together in a large bowl.
- Whisk together the oil and honey in a small bowl.
- Pour the liquid mixture over the oat mixture.
- Stir with a wooden spoon until all the oats and nuts are coated.
- Pour onto a 13 x 18-inch baking sheet. Bake, stir occasionally until the mixture turns a nice, even golden brown, about 40-45 minutes.
- While waiting, dice the apricots and figs.
- Remove the granola from the oven and allow to cool, stir occasionally. Add the apricots, figs, cherries, cranberries, and cashews. Mix everything together.
- Serve on top of yogurt or with some cold milk. Store the rest in an airtight container.
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