A few weeks ago, Project Pastry Queen made homemade granola. And the first thing I thought was, “I might never have to buy granola from the store again!” And the second thought was, “This would be great in our Christmas baskets.”

Homemade granola takes only minutes to stir together before tossing in the oven, it keeps well for several weeks, and it’s totally customizable with the spices and dried fruits and nuts of your choice. Put it in jars or festive treat bags tied with sparkly ribbons. And you, too, might find that you’ll never buy granola from the store again.

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Homemade Granola

Make your own custom homemade granola!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 8 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds (optional)
• 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1 cup dried cherries or cranberries

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325.
2. In a large saucepan, set over medium heat, combine the oil, honey, brown sugar, vanilla and salt.
3. Stir until the sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes.
4. In a large bowl, combine the oats, sunflower seeds, coconut, and almonds.
5. Pour the warm oil and honey mixtrue into the oat mixture and stir until combined.
6. Spread the mixture evenly on two baking sheets.
7. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring several times, until the granola is a deep golden brown.
8. Cool completely before adding the dried fruit. Store in an airtight container up to 3 weeks.

Notes

Yields: ~5 cups

Adapted from The Pastry Queen

Estimated time: 30 minutes

The 12 Days of Homemade Christmas 2010