Healthy Eating in 2011-Foodie Friday

      Like everyone else, I eat way to much "junk" during the holidays. One thing I love about a new year is the opportunity to go back to healthy eating. I'm not one of those people who can live on lettuce and egg white omelets. I like flavor and texture in my food! I love this granola recipe because it has no added fat. Many recipes call for butter (which certainly does enhance the color and flavor) but this one doesn't. The nice thing is that it still tastes great. I love it with low fat yogurt for breakfast or a healthy snack.  

Crunchy Granola

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup water

4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon salt

8 cups rolled oats

1 cup slivered almonds

1 cup walnut pieces

Dried fruit (optional) I used golden raisins for this batch.

Preheat oven to 275 degrees

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, combine oats and nuts, set aside. Combine brown sugar and water in a small saucepan, bring to a low boil and stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and add salt and vanilla (it will bubble when the cold vanilla hits the hot sugar). 

Pour brown sugar syrup over nut/oat mixture and stir well until all the oats are coated. Spread granola onto the 2 cookie sheets and bake 1 hour (until golden and crunchy) at 275 degrees. Allow to cool, break into pieces, add dried fruit if you'd like and store in airtight containers.

I am joining Michael @ Designs by Gollum for Foodie Friday.

It is the place to visit for some of the best recipes in all of Blogland!