My mom is diabetic. And even though her dad was diabetic her whole life, and she was raised essentially on a diabetic diet (as it existed in the 60s and 70s), she’s got very diabetic-unfriendly eating habits.
But one good choice she craves and sticks to is granola. The oats are a great carb choice for diabetics, a slow digesting carbohydrate whether eaten cooked or raw. She loves oatmeal during the winter months, but really needs to have the sweet bite to it. She loves yogurt, but really needs to have a sweet bite to it. She really (psychologically) needs the sweet or she feels like she’s deprived.
But she won’t buy granola from the store because it’s saturated in various sugars: brown sugar, honey, corn syrup, maple syrup, and more.
Thus is born our experiment, beginning with what I consider Basic Granola.
And like so many “recipes,” this is a system, not a by-the-numbers or it’s wrong kind of food.
So here’s my system – which tracks pretty closely with the vast majority of granola “recipes”:
- 1.5 cups oats
- 1 cup nuts – mix as many as you like into the blend, but only 1 cup total
- 1 cup dried fruit – mix as many as you like into the blend, but only 1 cup total
Yep, it’s that simple.
Now, for the recipe people, here’s exactly what’s in my Basic Granola pictured here:
- 1.5 cups rolled oats (Publix brand, no need to go fancy)
- 1T dried ground cinnamon (Publix brand)
- 1t dried ground nutmeg (Publix brand)
- 1t salt (Morton’s)
- 1 cup water
Mix these five items together in a bowl, cover and let sit in the refrigerator overnight.
Prep your nuts; I used what I already had in the cupboard:
- 1/3 cup sunflower seeds (Publix organic unsalted from the produce section)
- 1/3 cup hemp seeds (Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts)
- 1.3 cup slivered almonds (Mariana from the Publix produce section)
Prep your binding; because my granola places emphasis on being diabetic friendly, I have limited sugar to a functional role and eliminated all granular sweeteners – natural or artificial:
- 1/3 cup honey (from a local farm near me)
- 1/4 cup oil or melted butter (Pompeiian Grapeseed Oil)
When you’re ready to bake, mix the nuts and the binding into the softened oat mixture. Spray or grease a medium or large cookie sheet with at least a little lip, spread the mixture in a thin layer in the sheet. Bake at 250° for 1 hour and 15 minutes; increase heat to 300° for 20-40 minutes more. The longer time is especially useful in high-humidity climates or times of year.
As your mixture sits to cool, it will harden into the crunchy texture most people are looking for, so don’t get frustrated if it doesn’t harden while still in the oven. It won’t, and you’ll risk overcooking or burning your granola.
Serving Ideas: the standard serving is 1/4 cup
- cooked oatmeal topper (tip: prepare half of an oatmeal serving and add 1/2 cup granola to finish out the meal)
- yogurt mix-in
- ice cream topper
- fruit pie topping (instead of crust)
- blend into smoothie for an oatmeal smoothie
- sweet potato casserole topping
- roasted root veggies topping
My mom is really happy with this batch and can’t wait for my Christmas blend using pistachios and dried cherries.
Singing about Cooking 