Jessica's Mom's Granola

Today I made a recipe that I've had for so long that the cue card's yellow and my writing looks different. I also realized when looking through the recipe, that it reflects some changes in popular opinion about weight loss over the past ten years. This granola recipe comes from one of my High School friend's moms. I remember devouring it at their house, and we girls were happy to know that it was a "diet" recipe, which at that time meant very little oil, thus fewer calories from fat. What I find interesting is that it calls for a pretty substantial amount of brown sugar as well as fruit juice and maple syrup, which I'm fairly certain goes against current diet beliefs, many of which seem to revolve around limiting sugar and not necessarily oil. 

It is delicious granola, extremely simple to make, and you can use any combination of dried fruit and nuts that you want. Today I made it to use up some of the fruit and nuts in my cupboard (apricots, golden raisins, flax seeds, sunflower seeds and walnuts), as well as a load of rolled oats that I recently acquired, but I think it would be delicious also with chocolate chips and walnuts, or the originally suggested fruit and nut combination from the recipe below.

Jessica's Mom's Granola:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 whole wheat flour, or any other whole grain flour
• 1/2 brown sugar (can be reduced to 1/4 cup if you wish)
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1/2 cup dried apricots
• 1/2 cup craisins
• 1 cup toasted nuts and/or seeds

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F or 160 degrees C
2. Combine the rolled oats, flour, sugar and spices in a large bowl
3. In a liquid measuring cup, measure out the orange juice, and add the maple syrup and oil to it
4. Stir the wet ingredients into the oats mixture
5. Add the dried fruit and nuts and mix to combine. The mixture will not form a dough, but it should bunch up a little when you press it together. You can add an extra tbsp or two of juice or oil if you want the mixture to stick together a little more
6. Divide the granola between two large baking sheets, and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, until golden and fragrant
7. Let cool before transferring to an airtight container
8. Enjoy with yogurt, as cereal, or as a snack on its own.