I’ve had a solid two weeks at home. It’s been such a treat visiting with friends and family, climbing in Yosemite, and also channeling my inner Martha. There’s a delicate balance for me between soaking up my time at home and getting antsy for my next trip. Luckily this stay was definitely the former.

After experimenting and succeeding with making my own almond milk, I decided to continue my Betty-the-homemaker streak and try my at luck homemade granola. I’m not the biggest consumer of granola, but I do enjoy a bit on top of my daily oatmeal, and if left in the cupboard, it becomes my go to snack attack fix – dangerous, but delicious.

I looked online for a great “homemade granola” recipe. Page after page came up with granola flavors from tropical to earthy, healthy to sugar bombs, simple to complex. The options were endless and left me overwhelmed and stumped.

Luckily, my brother in law’s mom has a reputation of making darn good granola.  I took her recipe as a guideline and made some changes to make it my own. The first batch was a huge success, only lasting three days….see, it is dangerous for me.

4 cups organic rolled oats
1 cup organic raw almonds (chopped)
1 cup organic raw cashews (chopped)
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup organic coconut oil
2 pinches salt
10 organic dates (chopped)

Mix first six ingredients together in a big bowl. I used my hands at the end to really mix everything together. Spread thinly over 2 baking sheets. I drizzled a tiny bit (about 1tsp honey) over the finished mixtures on the baking sheets.
Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 15 minutes, or until lightly golden. Stirring every 5 minutes or so to even out the cooking.

Remove from the oven and let cool for about 30 minutes. Mix in the dates, and enjoy!!!