Homemade Granola

I love Granola.  My kids love Granola.  And Believe it or not, it is hard to find a Granola that is Dairy and Gluten free.  The only decent priced brand that we have been able to find in a local grocery store is Cascadian Farms.  However, You are limited to two flavors, one having raisins and my kids do not like raisins.  So we started to make our own Granola. Many recipes I found came out too sticky, so I started to play around and made my own mix.  It is the most delicious granola we have ever had.  My kids will sit and eat it dry for a snack or for that matter, all day long.  You'll even catch me snacking on it all day long too, but it is a far better choice than chocolate!

I usually don't use any uniform amount of the syrups.  I mix and match them depending on the type of fruit I am choosing.  Low sugar fruits like strawberries complement the sugar (glucose) levels in honey, while higher sugar fruits like dates, I would choose honey for.  It really does not matter what you use, so long as the amounts and methods are the same.


Originally I used Oats in place of the Quinoa Flakes and Puffed Millet, so if you prefer, you can use Oats in their place. If the sensitivity to Gluten extends to oats, you may want to try Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Whole Grain, Rolled Oats in this recipe

In mixing bowl:

2 cups Puffed Millet (or other rolled grain)

2 cups Puffed Brown Rice (you can find this at Walmart usually with the Malt-O-Meal bagged cereals)
2 cups Flaked Quinoa 
2 cups coconut (you can use sweetened or unsweetened)

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup dried fruit cut the size of a peanut or smaller* (any kind, apples, raisins, tropical blend, blueberries, dates, bananas)

1/2 cup freshly ground flax (I grind mine in a coffee grinder)

3 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

In a small pan combine:

2/3 cup honey or Agave Nectar

1/4 cup agave nectar or maple syrup  

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/4 cups butter 

Heat over medium heat until foamy stirring frequently.  When foam rises a few inches when left unstirred, turn off stove, pour over dry mixture, and and gently fold in with a plastic spatula/scraper until evenly coated. Spread 3/4 inch thick on cookie sheets sprayed with non-stick cooking spray (I use 2 ½ large cookie trays) and in preheated oven at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until edges begin to turn golden.  Pull out and let rest until cooled.  Break up and store in plastic cereal dispenser or zip lock bag.  I just keep ours in the cereal cabinet.  I have never had a batch 'go bad'. 

*When I use dried apples as our choice of fruit, I increase the cinnamon to 1.5 tablespoons.  My kids like dates and apples the best.