Granola fresh out the oven cooling on parchment paper.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats, “extra thick” if you have them
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cooked apple. Use these instructions. Or use about 3/4 cup applesauce.
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

1. Mix oats, salt, cinnamon. Set aside.
2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
3. Preheat oven to 240 degrees F convection. If not using convection, preheat to 300.
4. Cook apple, if using. Use these instructions: Spiced Apple In 5 Minutes, omitting any salt and spices.
5. Heat cooked apple (or apple sauce), maple syrup, honey, and vanilla gently for one minute.
6. Combine apple mixture and oats in a large bowl. Mix until all oats are moist.
7. Spread evenly and thinly on a lined cookie sheet.
8. Cook for about an hour, stirring every 15 minutes, until golden brown.

Notes:

• I created this recipe in an effort to use up a bag of extra thick oats. They actually work better for granola than regular old fashioned oats. Bob’s Red Mill makes them.
• You can add more salt, spices (e.g. nutmeg, ginger, cloves), sweeteners, nuts, raisins, etc. This is just basic recipe. (Raisins should get mixed in after the granola cools because they burn.)
• Using convection bake instead of regular bake allows you to use a lower temperature which helps the granola get dry and crispy before it gets brown, a benefit when you’re not using oil. The movement of air aids crispness too. Fine Cooking has a great little video that explains how a convection oven works. I’ve added a link below.
• You’ll regret not using parchment paper. I did!
• I store it in a brown paper bag at room temperature to keep it crispy.

How a convection oven works (click the picture and it will take you to the video):