Christmas Foodie No. 7: Christmas Granola

Christmas Foodie No. 7: Christmas Granola

Christmas granola

Mmm… I love granola.  In fact, I’m eating some right now!  Granola with Greek yogurt and maybe a drizzle of honey is one of my favorite go-to breakfasts, snacks, desserts…

A jar of homemade Christmas granola makes a great starting place for a gift.  I like to package it with some nice coffee for a fun “holiday breakfast” gift.  For a bigger present, add a jar of homemade jam and some scones, biscotti, or quick bread.  A tea towel and a basket make the whole thing really lovely—and a great hostess gift if you’re staying with someone over the holidays.

The first time I tried to make granola, I burned it, so trust me when I say that this recipe is pretty much foolproof—ie: not the one I burned.  It also lends itself beautifully to improvisation.  Whatever you have in the cupboards will be yummy in this Christmas granola, but the cranberries and pistachios give it a cute red and green Christmas theme.

Christmas Granola
fills aprx. 5 pint jars

Mix together:
3 cups oats
1 1/2 cup shelled pistachios, or other nuts
2 T sunflower seeds
2 T flax seed
1 cup dried cranberries or other dried fruit
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon, or other spices

Add Liquid ingredients:
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup corn or safflower oil (I just use vegetable oil, works fine)
1 tsp. vanilla
Pour into a 9×13 baking dish.  Bake at 325 degrees for an hour, stirring and turning-over once for chunkier granola or every fifteen minutes for more broken up granola.  Let cool completely before packaging.

ETA: I just whipped up another batch of Christmas granola! (Mostly because I was hungry and plotting to get into my Christmas stash…).  So I took a photo!  But the photo above is slightly different than the recipe.  I ran out of pistachios, so it doesn’t have that lovely red and green Christmas theme.  Instead, this batch has walnuts, dried pineapple and half a cup of shredded coconut, in addition to the cranberries and other ingredients.  YUM!

Check out the other consumable gifts in this series:

No. 1: Pepper-Infused Vodka
No. 2: Jam
No. 3: Pie in a Jar
No. 4: Sugar and Spice
No. 5: Hot Chocolate on a Stick
No. 6: Gingies
No. 7: Christmas Granola 
No. 8: Preserved Lemons 
No. 9: Gingerbread Biscotti
No. 10: Cracker Crack
No. 11: Satsumettes
No. 12: Apricot Nut Bread

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