Granola and Grumpy Trucks

Should I be concerned that my six year old has made up a new theme song for his trucks, a la Bob the Builder or Handy Manny, that is titled "Grumpy Trucks"? He sounds happy enough. Maybe he'll get it out of his system.

In the meantime, we did a scientific experiment this morning and made granola eight different ways, to see which we liked best. We narrowed the selections down to four. I like it best with sliced almonds. The six year old likes sunflower seeds and raisins. The ten year old likes it with dried apricots and apples. Chris M. can try these, and the Everything Mix when he gets home.

Here's our basic recipe, adapted from Jane Brody's Good Food Book:

6 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup real maple syrup (could be all honey or all syrup, but we only had a little of each)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup nuts or seeds (sliced almonds or sunflower seeds)
1/2 cup dried fruit (raisins, blueberries, chopped apricots, chopped apples)

Set oven to 350 degrees. While it's heating, melt the butter in a 9x13 baking pan.

Mix in the honey and syrup, then the cinnamon, then the oats and nuts. (If your nuts are already toasted, mix them in later with the wheat germ.)

Bake in oven for 15 minutes, stirring every five minutes.

Stir in wheat germ, bake for additional 10 minutes, stirring often, or until lightly browned.

Remove from oven and stir in fruit. Cool completely, then store in airtight containers. Jane Brody says it will keep for weeks on the counter, or longer in the freezer, if you refrain from eating it all right away.

In keeping with the somewhat neglected pie theme of this blog, this recipe (minus the nuts and fruit) can be mixed with a little additional melted butter and sugar and pressed into a pie crust, in place of a graham cracker or cookie crust.