This has been our family ‘go to’ granola recipe for as many years as I can remember. Full of old fashioned rolled oats, hazelnuts, almonds, raisins and honey, it’s hard to beat. Back when I was working in an office, I’d keep a Ziplock bag of this stuff in the lunchroom freezer for an afternoon pick-me-up. Apparently the idea caught on because I noticed my stash disappearing at a rapid rate. Finally, I had to put a big sign on the Ziplock that said “Whoever you are, please stop HELPING ME eat this”. It didn’t work and the thief just got sneakier, but I can’t really blame them. Have this for breakfast, or as a topping over yogurt, honey and berries. I love to store it in the freezer and just grab a handful for an on the go snack. You can also stir in some chocolate chips or M&M’s, maybe some other dried fruit, and have a great trail mix. The recipe makes quite a lot, for obvious reasons.
There is no stinginess in this recipe where nuts are concerned, and we’ve got both hazelnuts and almonds here. I often go the quickest route and buy already slivered almonds in the bulk section of the supermarket to avoid chopping whole ones. There is still plenty of crunch and good almond flavor so have at it if you like the idea. One of the most important parts of this whole thing is to make sure you don’t rush the baking time. Baking this mixture until the oats are a dark, dark golden brown color makes certain that you’ll get a good crunch from your finished product. Just keep stirring the whole works around with a spatula (gently please or you will have oats all over the bottom of the oven) so all is evenly browned. Aside from the color change, you’ll notice the granola gets really light in weight compared to having to muscle your way through it when it first goes into the oven.
Once all is done and out of the oven, just give the whole batch a stir every once in awhile to make sure it cools faster and stays crisp. Then – the world is your oyster. Eat it plain right out of hand (my personal favorite, especially right out of the freezer), with milk, layered in a jar with Greek yogurt, bananas and honey plus some additional nuts on top. Pop another jar into the fridge overnight and be treated with an overnight oatmeal kind of texture. It is also a big treat to stir a cup of this into a chocolate chip or other cookie recipe. See what I mean? You will go through this stuff in a hurry.
Nothing left to do but grab a bowl and get started….
Hope you enjoy this one! Happy eating, and thanks so much for reading today. xoxoxo
Hazelnut, Almond & Raisin Granola with Greek Yogurt & Honey
Ingredients
- 10 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 4 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt or more to taste
- ¼ cup canola or other neutral oil
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 1 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons vanilla
- 1 cup coarsely chopped almonds or slivered almonds
- 1 cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts
- 2 cups seedless raisins
Instructions
- Spray a large roasting pan with cooking spray. Place oats, almonds, hazelnuts, salt and cinnamon in pan. Toss to mix and set aside.
- In a Dutch oven, combine oil, corn syrup, and honey. Bring just to boil over medium heat – do not walk away!! Once mixture has come to boil, remove from heat. Gently add vanilla and stir - be careful: mixture will splatter.
- Pour the corn syrup/honey mixture over the oat/nut mixture and stir to thoroughly coat all of the oats.
- Bake in a 350 degree oven, stirring every 15 minutes or so, until oats become somewhere between golden brown and dark brown, about an hour. One of the ways you can tell granola is close to being done is that as you stir, the oat grains will easily begin to separate from each other and become much lighter in weight.
- When granola is done, remove from oven.
- Gently stir in raisins.
- Stir every 15 minutes or so until mixture has completely cooled.
- COOKS NOTES:
- You could also lay the mixed granola out of a baking sheet and bake flat, rather than in a roasting pan. If bake it that way, be sure to ‘scrunch up’ some of the granola in your hands to try and from crunchy clumps of finished granola.
- This recipe can easily be doubled. I will admit to doubling it, then doubling again and baking in two big roasting pans at the same time. Yes, this is how much granola I eat.