Mixed Grain Granola

We've hit the time of year that if I need to turn on the oven for dinner, I'll go ahead and make something else that requires the oven at the same time.  If you're going to heat up the house, you might as well make the most of it and avoid doing it again later.

Since I had to bake tofu for dinner tonight, I decided to make some granola too.  This is a recipe from Martha Stewart's Favorite Comfort Foods (gotta say, she and I have really different ideas about what constitutes a "comfort food" in general).  I change ingredients to use what I have on hand and I always make a double batch and freeze half.  It's like the oven...if you're going to the trouble, you might as well get twice the use out of it.  It's yummy eaten like cereal with milk, sprinkled into yogurt or eaten out of hand as a snack.

Martha calls for oatmeal, soy flakes and wheat flakes.  I don't think I've ever found soy flakes, but I've used quinoa flakes, barley flakes, wheat flakes and "mixed grain cereal".  It's all basically like oatmeal, but made with grains other than oats.  You might need a trip to a natural foods store to find alternate grain cereals, or you might find them in the natural foods or "special diet" section of your grocery store.  You can just use all oatmeal, but the mixture of grains brings nutritional variety as well as different flavors.  Just be sure to get 6 cups total of grains.

If you plan to freeze part or all of this recipe, try not to break the granola up too much as you bag it.  I don't recommend using a vacuseal bag as the pressure of the vacusealer will smash the granola into near-dust.


Double Batch Mixed Grain Granola
Makes about 8 cups

2 cups oatmeal
2 cups soy flakes (or other grain)
2 cups wheat flakes (or other grain)
2 cups nuts (pecans, almonds, walnuts), coarsely chopped
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup melted butter (2 sticks)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
zest of 2 oranges

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.  Press the mixture firmly onto rimmed sheet pans or into 13x9 pans.  Bake at 350F for about 10 minutes. 

Let cool completely before transferring granola to a sealed container or freezer bag.  Break up the granola slightly as you transfer, but not too much. Pin It