This month for Cultural Connection I am staying right here in America. I am bringing you my grandmother’s recipe for granola, I think she just called it dry cereal when I was a kid. She raised a family during the depression, and because of that was very frugal. She even used to make her own cracked wheat bread, where my grandma and grandpa had use an old (well it’s old to me) glass jar coffee grinder to crack the wheat in.. My dad used to love getting store bought bread as a kid because it was a special treat for him. We never could get that recipe from her, because she didn’t use one (of course, many grandma’s recipes are not written down).
I had to check to see if granola was in fact an American discovery and indeed it is. You can read the long version or check out a brief history of granola (the brief is through the eyes of Crapola-a granola company)…but in short it was JH Kellogg who came up with granola in 1863, and it might of fallen into obscurity, but was rediscovered and popular once again by the health food movement of the 1960’s.
There are many was you can make granola, but this is my grandma’s recipe the way I grew up eating it.
4 cups rolled oats
1 cup oat bran (she used bran flour)
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 cup unsweetened coconut (I use the wide flakes)
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup honey
The nice thing about granola is there has to be one for everyone and there are many way you can make it: Add some cinnamon and apple or pumpkin pie spice, or nutmeg and ground cloves, or leave out the coconut or sunflower seeds, add some pepitas or other nuts…it is endless…. I added chopped crystallized ginger in this one (I’ve been on a ginger kick lately) I have also used dried cherries or cranberries, but you can use other dried fruit you might like. My grandma didn’t use dried fruit in hers, but as always…you can add what you like.
Thanks for stopping by on this beautiful Saturday!
Homemade granola is the best!!!
We seldom have granolas here bought or otherwise, just not the kind of food the boys want to eat, pity since it’s so healthy and full of energy! Your recipe looks delicious Lyndsey
Thanks Martha, I think if you’ve never tried homemade granola…you don’t even realize the difference and what you’re missing!
Yum! I love homemade granola and granola bars. Both are like a totally different food than what we can get in stores.
Have a great weekend! 🙂