Pantry Granola

I had it in my head that an icebox cake was so-named because you use up what you have in your icebox. Turns out I'm wrong and it's called that because you leave it to freeze overnight in your "icebox" - I guess the recipe has been around since people were using iceboxes. Although my analogy is shot, I'm still going to call this granola I made pantry granola in the spirit that I made it trying to use up as much in the pantry and on the counter as possible. My mom's kitchen is overstocked so when I cook or bake I usually work hard to use what's there instead of buy new things. 

We had a bag of Nature's Promise granola that I wanted to eat with the coconut almond milk (coconut soy? I don't remember the blend) that we bought. The granola was waxy and not very tasty, so I decided to make my own. Homemade granola tastes WAY better than anything you can buy at the store, plus it used up three cups of the ridiculous amount of oats we had in the pantry. 

I based my granola off of CHOW's recipe here . I added nutmeg with the cinnamon, whole flax seeds and a tub of dried nuts and fruit. 

the mixture

before baking

after baking 

served with fresh blueberries, dried cranberries and chocolate bits in coconut milk

and stored in fancy glass jars.

Homemade granola is one of those things that you can make a lot of in a short period of time. This cold weather is already making me think about Christmas gifts, and homemade granola in a pretty jar with a ribbon would be a great gift for a crunchy friend or not-too-distant cousin. 

What do you like to put in your granola? 

Happy munching!