Growing up I ate a lot of granola. A lot.
My mom would make a huge bowl of granola, it would seem to take all day to bake the granola at a low temperature, stirring it every half hour or so.
It doesn't have to take all day to bake either. If you spread it across a baking sheet it finishes in a fraction of the time. Also, lots of big clusters. And aren't the clusters the very best part? Stirring very often breaks up all those beautiful clusters, so the baking sheet allows for the granola to dry quickly which eliminates the need to stir the granola and that retains all those yummy clumps.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
For the Salted Caramel sauce
- 2 c. sugar
- 1 Tbs. lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
- 2 c. milk
- 4 Tbs butter
- 1 Tbs salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
For the Granola
- 1 scoop protein powder (optional)
- 4 c. GF rolled oats
- 1 c. pepitas (or other nut or seed)
- 3 Tbs flax meal (or seeds)
- more salt to taste
For the Caramel Sauce
For the Granola
- You can add up to 2 cups of mix-ins to your granola, and choose whatever you want. Chia seeds, coconut, almonds, other nuts, sunflower seeds, whatever you have. I like using pepitas because they have a milder flavor than sunflower seeds.
- If you want chewier granola just bake the granola for 20 minutes and then remove from the oven. You could also try baking for 30 minutes, rotating half way through.
april
Hi! I was wondering if this would work if i substitute some things...
Almond milk for milk
Stevia for sugar
Coconut oil for butter
What do you think?
Looks great i can't wait to try!
flippindelicious
I'd assume that all of those substitutions would work, except for the stevia. You make the caramel by melting the sugar and stevia would NOT work the same way at all.
If you try any substitutions comment back and let everyone know what worked.
BJ
Hi - I'm wondering why you include lemon juice or vinegar in this recipe? I haven't seen caramel sauce made with it, and thought I'd ask before I try it! Thank you so much!!
flippindelicious
Hi Bj! Thanks for the question. Mixing the sugar with a little liquid helps it to melt smoother (at least in my experience.) Just enough liquid so that it looks like damp sand. I like using lemon juice or vinegar because the acidity helps to balance out the sweetness. Now I use water instead about half the time. It just depends on my mood!
Hope that helps!