Homemade Granola

Man, we're really on a roll with all this health junk.  This is one of my all-time favorites because it's not only easy, but majorly delish.  I originally got this recipe online from Ina (pronounced eye-na, who would've thunk it?) Garten, but I've tweaked it a bit.  Okay, let's not waste any time!
Here are the essentials:

I've got coconut oil (you can use vegetable oil), good quality honey (honey is the star, so you want it to be good) and old fashioned oats.

Here are the optionals:

I added flaxseed meal, mini chocolate chips, walnuts and sliced almonds.  You can add whatever dried fruit/nuts you want (I usually add these candied pecans from TJ's and they are fantastic!).
Okie dokie, let's start!  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees:

Now we're going to take a large bowl and dump in all this crap we just listed.  Let's start with 4 cups of oats (you can halve the recipe if you wish, as this makes quite a bit):

To that you can add your optionals, so I'm adding 1/4 cup flaxseed meal (it doesn't add flavor, it's just super healthy):

1/2 cup walnuts:

Then I chopped them:

Who chops with their knife in the air like they're waving a magic wand?  What a maroon!  Then 1/2 cup sliced almonds:

And finally 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (if you don't want them to melt, consider adding them after we're all done and the granola has cooled):

Man, I need to take a photography class.  Ok, here's what our bowl looks like:

Let's move onto wet ingredients.  I measured 3/4 cup of coconut oil (original recipe called for vegetable oil, so again that's fine):

Looks gross, huh?  But smells delicious!  Now I scooped it into a microwave-safe bowl:

and nuked for 30 seconds:

I don't know why I keep trying to make this shot work.  It's like my Everest.  Anyway, here's what it looked like when I took it out:

Basically like a ball of toilet paper in a bowl of pee water.  Nice.  Let's stir before we hurl:

Much better!  Now we measure 1/2 cup honey:

Now pour it into the oil bowl:

Yum!  Now try to emulsify it as much as possible (it's not going to totally blend together and that's okay).  This is when I realized this whisk (while tiny and adorable) was a terrible idea:

Ahh!  Stuck!  I managed to get it all unstuck (at the expense of my fingers and sweater), and then opted for a spoon.  Learn from my idiocy and just start out using the spoon.  

Now we add this mixture to the dry ingredients and use the spoon to coat everything.  All the oats should be shiny, that's how you know they're coated.  Try to break up any big clumps.  Here's what mine looks like:

Now let's put everything from this bowl onto a cookie sheet:

Now we spread it all out.  Technically I probably should have used two baking sheets, so it's a much thinner layer, but you're lucky I didn't just leave it in a big clump and call it good.  So, here's a close-up of my uncooked granola:

Let's bake the heck out of this stuff!  Put it in your preheated oven:

And set the timer for 10 minutes.  This is the labor-intensive part.  After 10 minutes, take it out and use a flat spatula to stir because you'll see the edges start to brown, but the middle will be uncooked.

Back in the oven for 5 minutes, then do it again.  Then 5 more minutes and stir again.  At this point your oats should be browning.  I turned off the heat and left them in another 5 minutes.  You can decide how much longer you want to cook them (basically you want them to be golden brown).  Be careful though, because they can go from golden to burnt in a minute.  Here's what mine looked like when I took them out for good:

Now we're not done yet!  As they cool, you have to continue stirring, so they don't stick to the cookie sheet.  Every 5 minutes I stirred until they were cool and when I shook the sheet, they all moved.  That's how you know you're done!  

Now give them a try!  They're delicious as cereal, mixed in some greek yogurt or just pop them in your mouth as a snack.  They also make great gifts (you're welcome, Karina!).  You can feel good about eating it because all the ingredients are good for you!  Give it a go!

Join me next time when I'm so over this diet I pull a Sylvia Plath by sticking my head in the oven (I bet she was on a diet too).  Sorry, that sounded horribly insensitive.  I'm gonna go wash my mouth out with a stick of butter.