The other day, I was shopping at an organic grocery store. In one of the aisles, they were selling granola. The jars of granola beckoned me. I was more fascinated by the jars than the granola itself. I checked the price, enthusiastically, and read the contents. I felt it was exorbitantly priced, but I suppose you are paying for the bottle too. I came home wanting to make granola.

As usual, I go to the chef I admire, Alton Brown. The nice things about granola and granola bars (recipe posted earlier) are that you don’t have to be precise with the ingredients. I tried making them healthier and with less sugar. The recipe (adapted from Alton Brown) follows:

Ingredients:

3 cups oats

1 cup cashew nuts 

1 cup almonds

3/4 cup shredded desiccated coconut

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1 tbsp brown sugar (can add more if you want it sweeter)

1/4 cup honey

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped dates

Directions:

Preheat oven to 150 degree Celsius.

In a large bowl, add first six ingredients and mix well.

In another bowl, mix the oil, honey, salt and vanilla.

Pour the oil – honey mixture with the dry ingredients and mix.

Pour onto a sheet pan and bake for about an hour. Keep stirring to get an even colour. Be careful not to burn the granola.

Remove from the oven, pour into a bowl and add the raisins and dates. Mix well. Cool and transfer to a dry container and store in a cool place.