Granola Goodness (again)

Can you tell I love homemade granola?  I am always trying to make the perfect batch.  And this last one has come extremely close if not made the grade.  What did I do differently?  Well, I took my recipe and then looked at my friend Alison's from this cookbook and sort of did this:

I used my granola recipe (which basically is cleaning out my baking cabinet because I use up any nuts and fruit etc. that needs to be used.)

6 cups of oats or more (I use what's on sale, but Bob's Red Mill are my faves)

1 cup coconut (today I used a whole bag of unsweetened)

2 cups wheat germ (sometimes I do flax seeds ground up or half and half)

1 cup sliced almonds or walnuts

1 cup chopped pecans

1 package of sunflower seeds (I used about 1 1/2 or 2 cups)

1 cup of baby oats or wheat flour

1 cup dried fruit (more or less to taste, I'm allergic to almost all fruit so I used dates)

 

This is where things got different...

Normally I microwave or cook my liquids to a syrup to melt the butter etc.  Today I did this:

1/2 stick of butter, melted

3/4 cup of molasses (I like dark or blackstrap)

1/2 cup of honey

1/4 cup of agave syrup (or a little less depending on how sweet you want it)

Mix the dry ingredients (except for fruit) in a bowl and wait.  Mix liquids in a bowl and pour over dry ingredients, adding a little at a time until it looks fairly wet.  Mix well and put in greased or parchment lined cookie sheets.  I actually use my turkey pan because it's deeper and things don't fly out when I stir.

In another small bowl take some oats and flour and a little brown sugar- to equal about 2 cups.  Melt about 2 T of butter and pour over this mixture and add some of the syrup from above if any remains, if not add some honey and water to make a cookie dough consistency.  I pat this in a small greased pan.  

Bake both at 350, checking every 5 minutes to stir, until lightly browned. (About 20 minutes or so total.) Just depends on how brown you like it. (I like my crispy to stand up in the milk!)  Take the mix that was patted in the pan and flip out onto a cutting board.  Break it up into chunks.  (Adds crispy bits to the cereal!)

Store in the oatmeal containers!

*I'd love your input on granola. Here is a post to my friend's recipe. She is a fantastic cook!