Homemade Granola

Does anyone have a fantastic recipe for some homemade granola bars or loose granola? I've never made my own, but it looks pretty easy. Thanks!

I don't have a recipe, but I am watching this thread with interest, as I love granola.

I like this recipe because it uses applesauce instead of giant amounts of oil but it's still clumpy and crispy. I've also had great results with the recipe in the "Cooking with Agave Nectar" cookbook but I can't seem to find that one online right now.

Edit: a-ha! thank you, Google Books! Here's the agave nectar granola recipe.

I like this recipe because it uses applesauce instead of giant amounts of oil but it's still clumpy and crispy. I've also had great results with the recipe in the "Cooking with Agave Nectar" cookbook but I can't seem to find that one online right now.

Edit: a-ha! thank you, Google Books! Here's the agave nectar granola recipe.

Ooh thanks. I *heart* granola,  but almost never eat it because of the fat content.

Hmmm... well, I don't think I will be finding flax seed anything around here at all, unless I order from that linseed farm online (?) and I've also never seen agave nectar (I guess I'd have to drive over to Newcastle to a Holland & Barrett or something, but that is pretty far for me!) But I found this one that looks good:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/09/granola-bars/

Which is a variation on Ina Garten's recipe, but without butter and with less sugar, so that sounds pretty healhty. And there are a few on the Spark People recipes site that look pretty good.

And this really looks delicious, too:

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/000173.html

Hmmm... well, I don't think I will be finding flax seed anything around here at all, unless I order from that linseed farm online (?) and I've also never seen agave nectar (I guess I'd have to drive over to Newcastle to a Holland & Barrett or something, but that is pretty far for me!)

Flax seed is totally optional - once you get the oats and the sticky/oily, you can toss whatever you want into granola. Sorry, I assume that because I can look at a recipe and determine what's optional and what's necessary that I forget that things like that aren't obvious to everyone else...

And agave nectar is stocked at the normal-to-big sized Tescos! (they have a few brands, but this one is pretty good - make sure you get the paler one that looks like honey)

My fiance buys it for his cocktails since it's easier than mixing up a sugar syrup. And I like it in general because I get crazy sugar highs off everything else, but also for putting into cold iced tea because it dissolves easily instead of forming a gritty sludge at the bottom of your glass. Eww.

Flax seed is totally optional - once you get the oats and the sticky/oily, you can toss whatever you want into granola. Sorry, I assume that because I can look at a recipe and determine what's optional and what's necessary that I forget that things like that aren't obvious to everyone else...

And agave nectar is stocked at the normal-to-big sized Tescos! (they have a few brands, but this one is pretty good - make sure you get the paler one that looks like honey)

My fiance buys it for his cocktails since it's easier than mixing up a sugar syrup. And I like it in general because I get crazy sugar highs off everything else, but also for putting into cold iced tea because it dissolves easily instead of forming a gritty sludge at the bottom of your glass. Eww.

Well, I am doing my shopping at Tesco online, so I did find the agave nectar, and they also have whole linseeds, but I assume I would have to grind those. Meh. Can't be bothered. They do have the oat bran. And I have most everything else in the pantry. I will be cutting the recipe in half since I don't know where I would store 30 cups!!! But other than that, I should be good to go. Would you sub anything for the flax meal? Like extra oat bran or something? I have some wheat bran, but I assume I'd have to soak that in something in order to use it. Or do you just leave the flax meal out altogether? Thanks!

Oh, one more thing... do you just make your own applesauce for this? Because I'm not seeing any unsweetened stuff, just your average Bramley apple sauce with the sugar added in. Thanks!

Oh, one more thing... do you just make your own applesauce for this? Because I'm not seeing any unsweetened stuff, just your average Bramley apple sauce with the sugar added in. Thanks!

Try in the baby food section

Jewlz, I personally would just toss anything I've got on hand. So I know I've got some wheat germ, dried blueberries & cranberries, chopped walnuts & pecans, some ground almonds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, dried coconut, etc etc. I've never tried wheat bran but a little would probably be fine! I just have a hunt around the pantry and toss in a bunch of stuff.

And yeah I make my own applesauce periodically (especially in the fall when apples are cheap) - peel, core and chop up a bunch, chuck 'em in a saucepan and add water until you can see it peeking through. Then when they're soft, whizz with a stick blender. I have a bunch of little round tupperwares I found at a pound shop that are almost exactly 1 cup so I throw a bunch of applesauce into those and in the freezer. That way if I've got a recipe (like lots of diet baking recipes!) that calls for applesauce, I just have to defrost one.

Though I'm hopefully driving to Holland in a few weeks so I'm going to stock up on giant jars of applesauce there. They do it the American way there and you can get the unsweetened stuff, too.

Edit: a-ha! thank you, Google Books! Here's the agave nectar granola recipe.

Holy granoly, SP! That looks like a delicious recipe. 

And you are giving me ideas of how to use up seeds we have and whatnot.

Yay! I love the food threads.

You guys got me craving granola again so I made the Baking Bites applesauce recipe yesterday with chopped cashews, walnuts, dried blueberries, and raisins. I had it with some fresh strawberries this morning and it was SO good. Seriously, so crunchy and wonderful it's almost unbelievable it doesn't have any oil in it.