Crunchy Granola | #Glutenfree

Made-in-my-kitchen granola is so much better. There hasn’t been any store-bought granola in my pantry ever since we started making our own. Dorie’s recipe calls for the quintessential rolled oats, slivered almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, shredded coconut, any kinds of plump, moist dried fruit (such as raisins, cranberries or apricots), the usual sweeteners (honey, brown sugar) and butter. After 45 minutes to an hour in the oven, all the oats, seeds, nuts and dried fruits turned into the crunchy granola that holds up well against milk or yogurt. Perfect for breakfast.

Instead of baking the granola in two 9-x 13-inch Pyrex pans, I use one half-size sheet pan. It might look like a lot of oats. Let see, there are 5 1/2 cups of them and just as much nuts and seeds in the mix. They don’t last long because they are equally good for snacking than as breakfast cereal. I also follow Dorie’s suggestion to put the granola in glass jars and dress them up as gifts. I gave some to a friend who just underwent back surgery. This made-in-my-kitchen crunchy granola was a big hit —  for breakfast, snack and gifting.

Oats are technically gluten-free since they are not related to gluten-containing grains such as wheat, barley and rye. I also use date sugar instead of the refined brown sugar called for in the recipe. My crunchy granola turned out slightly over-baked. Next time, I’d leave out the dried fruits and add them to the granola when it comes out of the oven.

A big bowl of made-in-my-kitchen granola