Great Gobs of Granola

Ah! Granola! This recipe comes from With Love from Your Kitchen, published in 1976, authors Diana & Paul Von Welanetz. I made it in preparation for Michael’s folks’ visit this past weekend. My mother had this cookbook when I was little, and she made this delicious granola frequently. I spotted the familiar brown dust jacket in a used bookstore in Sterling, VA one day years ago and scooped it up. Now I can make this and the other famous (within our family) recipe from this volume, Lithuanian Mushroom Cookies, from my very own copy. (There are no mushrooms in Lithuanian Mushroom Cookies.)

The Von Welanetzes point out that you can zig and zag with this granola recipe – I’ll give it to you as written, but I’ll add that my ziggings and zaggings include the use of pecans, the use of maple syrup instead of honey, the addition of a plethora of dried fruit once the baking is completed, and substituting of various kinds of nuts for the walnuts. Not all in one batch, you understand. The version that’s in my pantry now has walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts and almonds.

Remember not to serve yourself a massive bowl of this stuff – it’s calorically dense like grape-nuts are. I keep a 1/3 c. measure in the canister I keep it in and serve myself about 2/3 of a cup for breakfast. That amount fuels you a lot longer than you’d think.

6 c. old-fashioned oats (not instant)
1 c. chopped walnuts
¾ c. toasted wheat germ (without honey)
½ c. flaked coconut
½ c. firmly packed dark brown sugar
½ c. chopped blanched almonds
1/3 c. sesame seeds
1/3 c. shelled sunflower seeds, plain or roasted
½ c. vegetable oil
1/3 c. honey
2 T. vanilla

Preheat the oven to 325. Place the oats in a large rectangular pan, such as a roasting pan or jelly roll sheet, and bake at 325 for 10 minutes while measuring the other ingredients. Remove the pan from the oven and stir in the walnuts, wheat germ, coconut, brown sugar, almonds, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt together the oil, honey, and vanilla. Pour this over the other ingredients and mix thoroughly. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 25 minutes, stirring twice during the cooking time (I find that three bakings of eight minutes work well.) Let cool and transfer to a large container.

They counsel you to store it in the fridge, but I’ve never had any last long enough that it needed that treatment. This makes about 2.5 quarts.