Oat and Honey Granola

My son LOVES Cascadian Farms’ “Oats and Honey Granola.”  In fact, this is his favorite granola and won’t eat the other ones I make or buy – even the super awesome Trader Joe’s Mango Passion Granola.  Or my delicious cherry orange granola.  He often eats this each morning because Juliana and I like oatmeal – and he doesn’t.  Well, if he wants something else he has to go make it himself.  I’m mean like that.  I use words like “you are capable” and he hangs his head.  Okay, he doesn’t really hang his head.  But you get it.  So, little Maddox snubs my oatmeal and makes the breakfast he likes:  plain Greek yogurt, granola and honey.  Honey is okay here because… plain Greek Yogurt is just plain nasty!  Honey makes it much better.

So, we were running low on oats and honey granola and… well, I was too lazy to go to the store and get it.  And, it is a little expensive to buy considering I can get old fashioned oats at Costco for 7 cents/ serving.  Therefore, I worked on my old granola recipes and meshed them together with the ingredient list on the box of oats and honey granola to arrive at this recipe.

I can’t call it a copycat recipe because it doesn’t taste exactly like Cascadian Farms brand.  First of all, it isn’t as sweet.  Since we use this granola on plain Greek yogurt and honey quite often, I didn’t think more sugar was needed.  Second, it doesn’t have a whole lot of flavor on its own, but I still found it quite delicious with some milk and a spoon.

Oat and Honey Granola
yield: 4 cups

1/4 cup honey (use 1/2 cup if you want sweeter granola)
1/4 cup canola or vegetable or grapeseed oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. molasses (next time I may increase this;  you can omit it)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (optional and not in the original oats and honey ingredient list, so would be tasty, but I didn’t use it.)
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup crisp rice cereal (like Rice Krispies, TJ’s Crisp Rice, etc.)

1.  Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2.  In a microwave safe bowl, or a saucepan, warm the honey.
3.  Add the oil, vanilla, salt, molasses (optional), and cinnamon (optional).  Stir vigorously.
4.  Combine the oats and cereal in a large bowl.  Drizzle the warm honey mixture and mix until coated.
5.  Spread the mixture into a rimmed cookie sheet.  Bake for 30-40 minutes and stir every 10-15 minutes.  Cool.  It will become crispy as it cools.  Store at room temperature in an airtight container.