Anything goes granola

It's heaps cheaper to make large batches of toasted muesli than to buy it already made up...AND you can make it to suit your needs + taste buds :) Raw, soaked muesli is best. But for a change, I've been playing around with toasted muesli. Here's one I made today. I encourage you to be creative and frugal and throw in whatever you have on hand.

Makes abut 5 cups

Dry Ingredients:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup almonds, chopped
• 1/2 cup uncooked millet
• 2 tbsp ground flax
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1/2-3/4 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• ANY other nuts and sees you like. I used walnuts, sunflower seeds & poppy seeds too. I also added coconut flakes, saltanas and dried cranberries. If you use dried fruit, make sure it doesn't have extra ingredients in them like colours, flavours or additives of any kind. 

Wet:

• heaping 2 tbsp applesauce (organic)
• 1/4 cup Brown Rice Syrup or other liquid sweetener (I used agave and I used less than 1/4 cup)
• 3 tbsp any nut butter - I made my own :)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 vanilla beans, scraped (optional)
• 1/2 tsp almond extract (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or non-stick mat.

2. In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients.In a medium sized bowl, mix together the wet ingredients (except for the vanilla beans and extracts). Microwave for about 60 seconds on high. Now stir in the extracts and scraped vanilla beans until combined.

3. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir well until everything is coated. Mixture will be a bit dry at first but keep mixing as it will eventually come together! Adjust salt to taste. Scoop onto baking sheet.

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes, stirring once half way through baking. Allow to cool for about 10-15 minutes on the baking sheet. Makes about 5 cups. Store in an air-tight container for 1-2 months.


From one of my fav blogs: http://ohsheglows.com/2011/07/18/lightened-up-summer-granola-2/#ixzz2pK8xwpHt