Homemade Granola

Cookie Monster and I really like granola, both eaten in the morning as cereal, and mixed with yogurt in our lunches. We both really happen to like Nature's Path Pumpkin Flax. We ran out, and instead of buying another box, I attempted to make some. Plus, the last few times I had eaten it, erm, shall we say, it gave my tummy some... issues.

So!

I combined the following ingredients for our granola:

Oatmeal

TJ's dried cranberries

Pumpkin seeds (which I found at a neighborhood more "ethnic" market for $.99!)

Dried, chopped dates

Chia seeds! Which are all over the blogosphere, and, every time I've looked for them at health food stores, they cost approximately seventy bajillion dollars. These I found at said ethnic market for the grand total of... you guessed it... $.99! (Ok, you didn't really have to guess. It's right there in the photo. But work with me here, people.) Woo hoo for bargain shopping!

Cinnamon! (Not sesame seeds. The lid on that one broke, so we switched containers.)

Mexican vanilla (actually purchased in Mexico!)

TJ's pecans

I combined all the above dry ingredients in a bowl, then added the wet:

Unsweetened applesauce (in lieu of oil)

Honey, which we were low on...

...so I also added some agave.

And finally, some white grape juice.

I combined everything in a large bowl, then spread out on a cookie sheet to bake.

The recipe I was "following" said to bake it at 275 for 15-20 minutes. Ha! Yeah, right. I baked it for more like an hour. Which ended up being just a titch too long because it got pretty crunchy. I think I would bake for about 25-30 minutes at about 350 next time.

I think if I hadn't overcooked it, it would've been great. As it was, it was good. But it was the execution, not the ingredients' fault. So I would happily try this again, considering we have most of these ingredients in the pantry at all times.