If you have ever ventured into the bakery section of Whole Foods and wondered why they have little plastic boxes of granola it is because they bake it fresh and it is delicious. All 4 of the flavors are delicious. I eat it like candy. Downside, it is expensive and I'm cheap, like super cheap. So in my annual August attempt to clean out the pantry and freezers I noticed that I had a jar of coconut oil and a brand new can of Quaker Oats. I instantly thought about the Whole Foods granola I had been craving lately and decided it couldn't be that difficult to make it myself. 

After a quick google search I realized there wasn't an official copycat recipe. This was going to be more difficult than I originally thought. I got busy trolling 50 or so various recipes all claiming to be "the best" and documented the commonalities and differences. Then it was time for Chemistry of Cooking class in the kitchen (yes I actually got a chemistry credit for my undergrad degree for a course just that). 

I decided to keep it simple and only use the most common ingredients; Quaker Oats, honey, coconut oil, vanilla extract, salt, and a cup of whatever extra you picked (I did cherries because they were about to go bad in the refrigerator). The ratios of each ingredient were all over the place so I went with the average amount for each; I'm not listing it out for reasons that will be clear in a minute. Spread it onto a pan and threw it in the oven. Every 10 minutes I tossed it to make sure it was baking evenly. Then let it sit to cool because it is really soft and in baby pieces when it first comes out it doesn't get clumpy until it cools. 

Taste test: it is blahhhhhhhhhh and not Whole Foods granola. It is edible and I'll snack through what I made but it is definitely not wonderful enough to share with y'all. Don't worry I dug in the pantry and found another unused can of Quaker Oats. Game on. We shall figure out an awesome healthy granola recipe. 

If you have a favorite homemade granola recipe please send it over! I need all the help I can get!

XOXO

The Mr. & Amanda