Non-Fancy Super-Crunchy 10 Minute Granola

Yes. You can do this.

Ever check out the Vegan or Raw Foods section of the Health Food store and come across these little snack packets of uber-granola weighing 2 ounces total and costing 9 American Dollars? I saw some the other week, and I thought: "This is it. Boutique Granola costs $56 a pound.  The end of the Roman Empire (take 2) is at hand."



It may be that one can spend $56 in a health food store in WAY less time than it takes to make the 10 minute recipe I'm about to post, but even if you are a Total Pure Food Zealot. . .  Can that ideology REALLY absorb the fiscal damage inflicted by 56-dollar-a-pound granola?

(If so, I'm totally developing 24 K Goldfish Crackers and Platinum-Plated Hemp Seed Crisps that retail for 10 times that amount! Brand Name: "One Percent Bliss.")

Why do I feel so strongly that something is deeply wrong? Maybe it's working-man's frustration at flat wages for the middle class for the last 3 flipping decades. Maybe it's guilt over not being able to afford becoming a Macrobiotic Family. Maybe it's just shock and awe at the audacity of prepared-food makers, who's current strategy is to exploit the rising tide of newly-diagnosed celiacs by charging crazy money for an ordinary frozen pot pie made in "a dedicated zero-gluten facility." I guess if we the consumers are really terrified of gluten, lectins, carbs, peanuts et cetera we will be more likely to fork over big money to feel safe. It's like there's a perpetual Orange Terror Alert on food right now.

Hey, new Celiacs: throw out the gluten in your kitchen, clean and dust it really well, and start over with stuff you know is safe.  You can do this. You don't have to pay Hain Corporation to cook you up some crappy modified-starch-noodle lasagna (unless you WANT to.)

Which brings me to:
Non-Fancy Super-Crunchy 10-Minute 4-Dollar-A-Pound Granola

12 c Oats* (1 whole tube. Use the "Old-Fashioned" Cut, not the "Quick." This is a textural suggestion.)

3 Egg Whites (vegans may omit them, but the granola won't clump as nicely)
1 1/3 c Sugar, Brown Sugar, or Sucanat
3/4 c Oil of some kind
2/3 c Syrup of your choice
1 1/2 tsp Salt

This is the basic recipe, which can be adjusted in every way possible. Raise or lower the amounts of any of the ingredients in the second group.  Use olive oil or butter or canola. Use molasses or maple syrup or honey. Use whatever sugar you want, although brown sugar or molasses will make the result a bit more chewy vs. crispy. Add nuts or seeds if you like. I add 1/2 c or so of Flax Seeds because they taste great and add nutritional value.

Method
Mix everything but the oats in a big mixing bowl, stirring to emulsify the oil in the syrup. (see picture at the top of the page.)

Use a big bowl.

Not mixed enough yet.

Add the oats and stir very thoroughly to coat.  This is what takes most of the 10 minutes.

Now it's ready.

Spread out and press down onto 2 large cookie sheets lined with parchment or silicone.

Cook at 250 for 50 minutes, turn the oven off, and let the pans cool in the oven for maximum crunch.

Or take the pans out hot and start snacking!

Either way you will have something delicious, simple, cheap, and satisfying. And the equivalent of about $20 worth of store-bought granola.

*If you are a celiac, I recommend using whole buckwheat groats in this recipe, cup for cup.  Rinse them, drain them well in a colander, then mix with the above slurry and follow the directions.  Cooking time may need to be extended another 20 minutes to get full crispiness.

Eat well, be well, and save that money!