Thursday, December 8, 2011

Homemade Granola Gifts, Recipe & Printables


I love giving homemade food gifts but with everything else there is to do around the holidays, it can be hard to find the time!  Today I'm sharing the recipe for one of my favorite make in bulk,  yummy gifts - homemade granola.  It comes together quickly and the recipients will appreciate the healthy breakfast (it's deliscious over yogurt!)


Plus it looks adorable all packaged up in some cellophane bags and tied with ribbon.  You can download my free printable labels here or by clicking the image of the labels above.

Homemade Granola:
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup sweetened coconut
3 cups oats
1 cup pecans
1 cup almonds
3/4 cup golden raisins
3/4 cup dried cranberries

--Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray (or line with parchment).
--In a bowl, combine olive oil, salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and honey.  Mix in oats and nuts and stir until combined.
--Spread onto your baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes
--Remove from oven and spread coconut over oat & nut mixture, tossing lighting to combine
--Return to oven for an additional 15 minutes to roast coconut
--Remove from oven and spread raisins and cranberries over oat/nut/coconut mixture
--All to cool completely.  Mixture will harden and solidify.  Once completely cooled, use a spatula to lift granola from baking sheet and break apart.  Store in airtight container.

 I like this combination of pecans, almonds, dried cranberries and raisins in my granola but you can really add whatever nuts and berries you want.  Just be sure to keep the proportions the same (3 cups of oats to 2 cups of nuts).

This recipe makes about 3 bags worth.  You can double, triple, etc the recipe for larger quantities.

If you want another super easy and yummy food gift idea, check out my recipe for Salted Chocolate Caramel Clusters over at The Small Things Blog today.  Kate is hosting an entire week's worth of cookie recipes.  My pants feel tighter just thinking about it!

0 Comments: