I made my own granola last night. Why?
- cheaper – all the ingredients are bought in bulk
- creates less waste (no boxes)
- you can tune your recipe
The end results were yummy. The current issues with my version:
- the almonds, at $5, accounted for half the price all the ingredients. Part of this was because I bought crushed almonds, which may have been more expensive. Next time I will either just get a hammer or get peanuts instead, which are more cost-effective.
- I misread the recipe and added the dried fruit before putting the mix in the oven. It needs to be added after the toasting; now all the fruit tastes slightly caramelized
- although there is less waste created, I still got plastic bags for the bulk purchase. Although Berkeley Bowl lets you reuse plastic bags, so that might be okay
- I used the basic “default” recipe this time. I need to add my own stuff for the next batch
- I may have been too zealous about breaking up clusters; there are none in my batch. Sometimes clusters are a good thing
Something to watch is, when hot, the granola still feels “wet” and thus it is tricky to figure out if it’s done yet. As it cools, the granola gets crunchier.
The recipe I used is off of Slashfood and is apparently from Marisa McClellan’s mom’s friend. But there are a ton of them online to get you started.