Making Terra Breads' ‘Artisan Granola’

I love homemade granola. It takes a little while to make but it is really easy and I find making granola at home makes it much more affordable. The recipe below makes a lot of granola so I keep it in the freezer and it takes me at least a few months to eat it all. Since  this recipe makes so many servings it’s much easier to make if you have an extra large mixing bowl and baking pan(s).

My favorite granola is Vancouver-based bakery Terra Breads’ ‘Artisan Granola’. The recipe below is my best attempt to recreate their recipe. It’s crispy, sweet and filled with nuts and dried fruit.

Ingredients

8 cups rolled oats
1 cup wheat germ
1/3 ground flax seed
1/2 cup dry millet
1 cup unsweetened coconut
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup coarsely chopped almonds
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 cup coarsely chopped cashews

1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup honey or brown sugar
1 cup maple syrup
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups combination of chopped dates, raisins or sweetened dried cranberries

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

2. Combine the dry ingredients (except the dried fruit) in a large bowl. Stir together the salt, brown sugar or honey, maple syrup, honey, oil, cinnamon, and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly since it burns easily, then pour over the dry ingredients, and stir to coat. Spread the mixture out evenly on the baking sheets.

 3. Bake in the preheated oven until crispy and toasted, about 50 minutes (or less if you bake the granola on cookie sheets). Stir every ten minutes- burns quite easily! Add the raisins and/or dates, cranberries after about 30 minutes (or for the last 15 minutes or so, don't make the mistake of adding the dried fruit at the beginning since the fruit takes a much shorter time to become crispy and will easily burn). Cool before storing in an airtight container