Killer Granola

The original title was “Granola – without the Birkenstocks” but my daughter thought it was stupid

Dry Ingredients:
5 cups oats
3/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup dried blueberries
3/4 cup raw sunflower seeds – no shells, please
3/4 cup coconut flakes
3/4 cup chopped walnuts – halves chopped once or twice again
3/4 cup chopped pecans – halves chopped once or twice again
3/4 cup wheat germ
3/4 cup oat bran

Liquid Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups honey
1/2 cup safflower oil
1 tsp real vanilla

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Heat all the LIQUID ingredients in a sauce pan on low/med heat until mixed and runny.
While the liquid ingredients are perc’in’ on the stove, mix all the DRY ingredients thoroughly, in a large bowl – I use a large meat fork with a head approx 1 3/4 inches wide and 2 1/4 inches long.
Pour the LIQUID ingredients into the large mixing bowl with the DRY ingredients.
Mix until all DRY ingredients are very WET!
Pour the mixed contents into two glass baking dishes, approx 10×12 with 2 inch sides. Fill each dish approx 1 inch.
Bake at 300 degrees for approximately one hour. TURN AND STIR EVERY TEN MINUTES – carefully! – using the same fork that you used to mixed the dry ingredients should work well.

The stirring while baking is a pleasant experience for me; the grainy smell reminds me of feeding my sheep in years gone by. Those are pleasant memories.

My wife used to be the best granola maker in the world. When she left me for a month to help her family, I found the recipe. It didn’t take long to figure a few new ingredients and resetting priorities on existing ones. This is the best you will find. Enjoy!

Makes approx 3.2 quarts – hey! there’s a nibble factor; okay?