I absolutely love this stuff, and make it in big batches (which go very quickly around here). You may add or remove various ingredients as you like, until you come up with your own custom granola mix that your family likes! You can hardly go wrong with granola, so experiment away. Here's what I do, measurements may not be exact, as it's a very organic, comforting process for me.

home-made granola

First, I mix the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Ingredients, Mix together:

• 12 c.quick rolled or steel-cut oats (Note: The "old fashioned" or steel-cut oats make it chewier, so if you're making it for little ones to eat that may have a harder time chewing well, you may want to use the "quick rolled oats". I sometimes like to use a mixture of both.)
• 3/4 c. wheat germ (though my son is allergic to this, so I now leave it out and double-up on the ground flax seeds, aka. flaxseed meal)
• 1 c. flaxseed meal (I use 2 c., when not adding the wheat germ)
• 8-12 oz. (or 16?) of cocunut, depending upon how much you like it! I use the whole 16 oz. bag!
• 2 c. of slivered almonds (I usually add an extra shake of this too)
• 1-2 c. of pecan pieces (or walnuts would be good too, totally your preference)
• 3/4 c. of sunflower seeds, if you like 'em (we don't) or any other seeds/nuts you want to try
• 2+ tsp. cinnamon
• .25+ tsp. nutmeg (to taste)
• 1.5+ tsp. ginger (I was out of ginger the last time I made it so I added a tsp. of "apple pie spice", which had some ginger, allspice, cloves and cinnamon in it, along with the other spices I'd already added- turned out great!)
• You can sprinkle in some Oat Bran flour over the mix, and mix in (probably about 1/2 c. or so, the more you add, the more bready-type hard *clumps* you'll have in your granola. I don't usually add this, but some might like to add up to 2-4 c. of oat flour- in which case you'd need to add more honey and oil to make it stick together, just experiment, if you want clumps that is). Please note that this is not a necessary ingredient.

Now I start adding in the liquids:

• 1 tsp. almond extract (Add it if I have it on hand, no biggie if I don't!)
• 2.5 tsp. vanilla extract
• Oil: *note* Again, for this ingredient you can experiment and use what you like. I've used 1/4-1/2 c. of high-lignan flax seed oil and a stick of unsalted butter, but now that I've discovered it, I use 1 c. of organic extra virgin coconut oil (which is really, really good for you; click through to read more), or grapeseed oil. Remember: there are no rules with granola, except to make it as yummy and healthful as possible for your family. But basically, you'll need about 3/4 c. of oil for this amount of granola.
• 1.5-2 c. of honey (Definitely use raw honey if you can get it! Also, if its too thick, it can help it to mix easier if you warm it up a bit.)
• 1/4 c. of molasses (or not, whatever you like)

Mix it all up real good and spread on parchment paper, or brown paper bag on the largest cookie sheet you have.

Bake @ 275-300 degrees (depending on your oven, and how long you want to wait) for 20 mins. or so, until golden brown/toasted looking. I even accidentaly burnt a batch the other day, and it was still delicious.

Right after it comes out of the oven, I like to toss in some organic raisins, or dried cranberries. You could add any dried fruit that you like. I've tried baking it with the fruit in it beforehand, and prefer to wait now. I found that the fruit sorta burns faster than the rest of the mix. Let it cool completely before you store it an airtight container. It keeps at room temperature for a couple of weeks, at least, just fine (though one batch has never lasted that long around here).

Hope you like! I end up wanting to eat it for every meal when I make it! It's great with yogurt, milk, kefir or just for munching plain as a snack. Great fiber source, for sure.