Homemade Granola

Finally, the homemade granola recipe! I know I've been a terrible blogger lately but all kinds of things have been going crazy and the last thing I feel like doing is actually using my brain to string words together.

Now before I start talking about the recipe I have a vocabulary problem, what is the difference between granola and muesli? I tend to call this granola because it's what the original recipe is called, but I'm wondering if it's just a American vs Australian dialect thing, like sweater and jumper etc. Anyway for the moment I'm going to call this granola, but feel free to correct me or call it something else.

I've been wanting to make my own granola for awhile now, I've never really liked breakfast cereal or toast, and I find the muesli/granola that you can buy from the supermarket has a ridiculous amount of sugar and other yucky things in it. I will admit now that I think making this on a permanent basis would be quite expensive unless you can buy everything in super-bulk. I only make half the recipe each time as my bowls aren't big enough to hold the 5 cups of oats plus everything else without making a huge mess! I find that half of this recipe is enough granola for about a weeks worth of breakfast, and I have quite a small serving. Consider yourself warned. However, in saying all of that it is delicious, especially with warm soymilk and a sprinkle of cinnamon. It's also great as a snack with fruit at work or school.
I got my recipe from Cafe Fernando who had made a few adjustments to the recipe by Orangette. I've also tweaked a few things mainly out of convenience. So here are a few notes before you read the recipe:
-Because I didn't read the recipe properly I used pepitas instead of sunflower seeds. They're the same size and taste just as great, so use either or both, up to you.
-Like Cafe Fernando, I found it easier to use organic baby food in place of the apple sauce/peach puree. One little bottle is approximately half a cup so it works well. I used two bottle of the apple one as I couldn't find any other flavours. Feel free to use whatever you feel like.
-Adjust the cinnamon and ground ginger to your taste, I used the amount specified by Orangette as I thought that Cafe Fernando went a little overboard with the cinnamon.
-I couldn't find grape molasses so I used pomegranate molasses because the deli guy told me it was "the best". I couldn't argue with that.
-To add a little more sweetness I stirred through about half a cup of dried cranberries after the mixture came out of the oven, I also added some Goji berries the second time I made it and they were good too.
Homemade Granola
Dry ingredients

• 5 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups raw almonds (with skins on)
• 1 cup hulled raw sunflower seeds (or pepitas)
  
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp salt

Wet ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/2 cup unsweetened peach puree
• 1/3 cup grape molasses
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 150 degrees celsius.
2. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Stir to mix well.
4. In a small bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients. Stir to mix well.
5. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ones, and mix until completely blended.
6. Spread the mixture evenly on two rimmed baking sheets.
7. Place the baking sheets on lower and upper thirds of your oven.
8. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, rotating pans and stirring the mixture every 10 minutes.
9. Remove the pans from the oven, give it a good stir and set aside to cool.
10. Transfer to an airtight container and store in your refrigerator.