Our Nonna’s Granola
This recipe has been in our family for over almost 50 years! Whenever we are at Nonna's house to visit it is the first snack everyone gravitates towards. This granola recipe is sure to fuel your fire when you are headed out for an early morning climb or an after school snack with yogurt. It provides substantial carbohydrates and protein balanced with just the right amount of sweetness. Pair it with seasonal berries or peaches for a delicious twist.
Equipment
- large deep well cooking pan and a microwave safe measuring cup (Pyrex)
Ingredients
- 10 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
- 1 cup pecans, roughly chopped
- 1 cup almonds, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup roasted unsalted sunflower seeds
- 1/2 cup ground flaxseed
- 1 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 3 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1 cup honey
- 1 cup canola oil
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°1. Put the oil, honey, and vanilla into a microwave safe measuring cup, heat in the microwave for 1 minute and stir. Then heat an additional 1 minute and stir. Oil, honey, and vanilla should start to incorporate. (You can also heat it on the stove until mixture becomes very thin and slightly emulsified when stirred, but it watch carefully so it doesn't boil over)2. Add the oats, chopped nuts, seeds, flax, dried fruit, and cinnamon into large pan and stir.3. Take the heated oil/honey mixture and pour over the oat mixture. Stir until oat mixture looks completely wet. 4. Bake at 300° for 30 minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool approximately 10 minutes before eating. (If you prefer a crunchier granola as we do, let it sit out for a couple hours after baking to harden up the honey clusters of oats. 5. Store in an airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition Facts: Calories 228, Total Fat 14 g, Saturated Fat 1 g, Monounsaturated Fat 5 g, Polyunsaturated Fat 5 g, Trans Fat 0 g, Cholesterol 0 mg, Sodium 3 mg, Potassium 90 mg, Total Carbohydrate 24 g, Fiber 3 g, Sugar 13 g, Protein 4 g, Vitamin A 0%, Vitamin C 2%, Calcium 18%, Iron 4%
This recipe is extremely versatile and you can vary the ingredients to your liking. Although the cost of getting the ingredients may be high on the front end, the amount of cereal that you can make and store is a substantial savings compared to a store-bought brand! Our Nonna usually has to make two batches of this to last our family visits of 30+ people because of it’s popularity. One version even has no nuts, for our cousins with nut allergies. The taste is still spectacular!
