I am trying granola recipes because I have the opportunity to sell some at an upcoming local craft event on Mother’s Day weekend at Granny’s Simple Blessings. And also because while I am not a big cereal fan, my girls and my husband are; and I am always looking for better, homemade options to replace (at least sometimes) their sugary choices!

So, once again I pulled out my Better Homes and Garden Cookbook to give me the basics for my recipe and started experimenting. This is what I came up with:

3 cups Old Fashioned Rolled Oats

1/3 cup Ground Flax Seeds

1 1/2 Tablespoons Ground Cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon Ground Cloves

1/4 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

1/2 cup Honey

1 cup Raisins

I set the oven to 300 degrees. Whisked together the oats and spices. Used the life saving hack of greasing my measuring cup prior to filling it with honey, measured the honey and poured it into the oats and spices. Stirred together with my spatula (that I also greased with less success than my measuring cup). Poured into my 9 x 13 glass baking dish and a 10 x 10 metal baking pan. Spread out and baked for 20 minutes. I stirred the cereal and baked for an additional 10-15 minutes and then took out to cool. Previously when making granola I have always been SO FRUSTRATED with it sticking to the pan once it cools. I find the best thing to do to combat this is to stir it every 3-5 minutes as it cools to lessen (or in this case eliminate!!!!) the sticking. Once it cooled, I stirred in the raisins and then put it into old honey jars (1/2 gallon glass jars) to store! The cook book says a week at room temperature or over a month if you freeze it. You can freeze it right in the jars if you want to! Also, if you do not have old honey jars, you can use any air tight container, even a gallon size zippered plastic bag!

So, the girls and I tried some today for an afternoon snack/early dinner. It’s another crazy t-ball pictures/game and gymnastics night! My four year old deemed it “Really, really, really good!” when I asked for her honest opinion on the way to gymnastics. It was less sweet than I expected. I thought about adding brown sugar, but since I’m trying to avoid sugar as much as possible, I think I may increase the raisins and maybe add some dried dates next time. If you try it, let me know what you think. Be advised we like spice in our granola and baked goods! If you do not like a lot of spice you may want to try just 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and maybe just a 1/4 teaspoon of cloves. I upped the cloves for the spiciness and because I have read about so many benefits from cloves! I was a little worried about it after tasting a little straight from the oven. But, once I added the raisins and we covered it in milk it wasn’t too spicy at all! I used nutmeg to add warmth to the flavor.