Super Healthy Granola (Updated)
Why I Love This Recipe
Store shelves stock all kinds of granola. Some loaded with sugar and ‘fillers’, some with good nutrients, but with lots of sugar and fats.
About 10 years ago, I discovered a granola recipe in a junk mail flyer that I decided to try. It contained less sugar than most that I had seen. After numerous tweakings, I have reduced the sugar content and added more nutrition to it. This has been my only granola cereal for about ten years. Supposedly, brown rice syrup has a lower carb load than honey, so I am testing it in several recipes.
This granola does not contain added oil or large amounts of sugar; It is perfect as cereal, yogurt or ice cream topping or a quick snack.
Ingredients You'll Need
• 10 cups old fashioned oats
• 2 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup raw sesame seeds
• 1 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup brown rice syrup
• 2 cup Cranberry & Pomegranate No Sugar Added Juice
• 1/2 cups raisins
• 1/2 cup Cranberries, Sweetened with Apple Juice
• 1/2 cup dried cherries , chopped
Directions
Equipment needed: 3 large rimmed cookie sheets, a large-sized soup pot or roaster for mixing, a wooden spoon and a large container to store the granola.
If fruits are larger than a raisin, cut them into smaller pieces.
Set your oven to convection at 250 F. If you do not have a convection oven, pre-heat the oven to 250 degrees F.
1. Put the oatmeal, cinnamon, almonds, sesame seeds, sunflower nuts, walnuts in a large container. Stir it until the cinnamon coats the oatmeal. You can use a very large soup pot or a large roaster.
2. Put the juice and brown rice syrup in a glass bowl. Heat about 2 minutes on high until blended. Stir to mix
3. Slowly pour the juice/brown rice syrup over the oat mixture and stir until all of the oat mixture is coated. All of the oat mixture should be moist, not wet.
4. Spread the mixture among the three pans. Bake about 45 minutes, then the pans between oven racks and stir each pan as the oats will brown from the edges first. Continue baking until the oats appear dry or browned to your taste. I like them slightly browned. Total baking can take as long as 1 hour if you like browned granola.
5. When finished baking, take out of oven and allow to cool. Add the dried fruit and mix well. Enjoy!
Servings: 64
Yield: 16 cups (64 -1/4-cup servings
Cooking Times
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 2 hours
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/64 of a recipe (1.3 ounces).
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.
Amount Per Serving
Calories 132.47
Total Fat 5.38g
Saturated Fat 0.56g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 6.33mg
Potassium 64.74mg
Total Carbohydrates 19.18g
Fiber 2.59g
Sugar 3.65g
Protein 3.2g
Notes
If you like toasted oatmeal or granola, you will like this. It seems like a lot, a family of four will have this gone in a less than 2 weeks. Because of the amount of time it takes to prepare, I recommend making a large batch at a time. Of course, you can cut the recipe to half or 1/4th; simply adjust the amounts of each ingredient
