Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day. I am a person who wakes up ravenously hungry. I am also a busy mom. Most mornings are spent rushing to make sure my kids are fed, the animals are looked after, homeschool is being done and the morning chores of gardening and tidying the house have been completed.
For that reason, we gravitate towards convenience breakfasts. I enjoy making meals but I do not always love cooking first thing in the morning when there is so much to be accomplished. We enjoy eating yogurt, cereal, fruit and toast during the week. Quick and simple. Just the way I prefer things.
I began to experiment with homemade granola shortly after making the commitment to stick with purchasing more ingredients and less items with ingredients. My preferred brand of store bought granola had more ingredients than it needed and cost much more than it should for a bag that size. This recipe has become my go to when we are out of cereal and are looking for something with a bit more flavour in the mornings. It’s easy to throw together in a pinch and we usually keep all the ingredients on hand.
Speaking of ingredients, did I mention that this granola recipe only has 4 of them? You read that right! All you will need for this big batch of granola are quick oats, honey, almonds and liquid vanilla extract.
Gather up your ingredients and pre-heat your oven to 200°F here and I’ll walk you through the rest!
Grab yourself a big mixing bowl and your best mixing spoon. I like to make my granola ahead and in large batches so I grab the biggest mixing bowl that my kitchen has to offer and my favourite wooden spoon that I purchased from Dollarama.
Next, all you need to do is pour 3 cups of oats, 1 ½ cups of honey, ½ cup of almonds and 1 tbsp of vanilla extract into that big bowl of yours. Then start mixing. The goal is to make sure that the honey is on every oat and almost and the mixture is mostly sticking together. Although sticky, I am some times known to get my hands involved in the mixing process.
When everything is nice and clumpy, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or these reusable liners from Amazon and spread your granola evenly across the baking sheet. You want to do your best to make sure that the granola will cook evenly and get a nice crisp.
Once your oven is preheated, place your baking sheet inside the oven and let your granola slow bake for roughly 2 to 3 hours total.
During the baking process, I like to take it out from time to time, mix the granola around and place it back into the oven. This way the middle and the outside edges all have a chance to get baked the same way. We all know outer edges enjoy getting crispy first.
When your granola is finished baking, allow to cool for some time before storing or serving and then enjoy!
Lately I’ve been exploring making a chocolate version of this recipe. Mixing a bit of cocoa powder with some melted butter and adding it to the mix is amazing… but I’ll save that recipe for another day!
Slow Baked Honey Almond Granola
Ingredients
- 3 cups quick oats
- 1 ½ cups honey
- ½ cup almonds I used pre-sliced but this works with whole almonds as well.
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients.
- Spread your granola mixture across a lined baking sheet. Distribute it as evenly as possible.
- Once oven has pre-heated, place your granola inside the oven and bake for 2-3 hours or until your desired crunchy level is achieved.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool.
- Serve as a yummy topping for a yogurt bowl or eat as a cereal!
Notes
- To ensure that all parts of the granola are evenly baked, take your granola out of the oven from time to time while baking and give it a good mix. This will help the granola to be cooked evenly.
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