Chewy Orange Spiced Granola

I’ve been known to scoff at friends and family when they claim I’m competitive. That bogus statement will always be adamantly denied because I’m not. I’m determined.

See how I did that?

I’m not a perfectionist. I’m methodical. 

I’m not argumentative. I’m persuasive.

I’m not cheap. I’m economical.

Case in point. Buying items from the store I can easily make at home is something I generally steer away from for a couple reasons.

When I make it, I know exactly what’s being put in it. Since eating strictly organically can be pretty pricey, I’ll make a lot of the staples we consume regularly with primarily organic ingredients, which ends up costing a lot less overall. If eating organically is really important to you, I’ve found buying ingredients in bulk, such as organic flour or oats, is the best way to go. Prepared foods we eat in large amounts, like bread, pancake mix, muffins, and this Chewy Orange Spiced Granola for school mornings tastes incomparably better and are definitely healthier when you make it at home.

Do I silently (or possibly not so silently) curse when we run out of our homemade staples and I have to make more? Of course I do, but this is where my determination comes in handy! I can be a little determined to see how much money I can save at the grocery store. Personally, I find this to be a big asset for our family, but Ryan may feel my methodical (and economical) cost-comparison-analysis causes him to linger in stores longer than he ever wishes to be. It’s for the greater common good of our family, though, because I’d much rather suck it up and fire up the bread factory then lose my marbles when my kids refuse to eat the crusts off a $7 loaf of organic bread.

Plus, with all the money you are saving no one will take notice when your bank account takes a hit at Nordtrom Rack or Marshalls.

See how I did that?

If some negligible stops at the outlet stores motivate you, start simply with this Chewy Orange Spiced Granola. You won’t curse when you have to make it because it’s easy, straight-forward, and quick. If eating the best granola in the world motivates you, look no further because I’ve never tasted anything close to how good this granola is. If generosity’s your thing, I make this a lot around the holidays for homemade gifts. Really there’s no reason to not make this.

See how I did that?

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Chewy Orange Spiced Granola

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

35 mins

Total Time

45 mins

 

Chewy Orange Spiced Granola is THE BEST GRANOLA I have ever tasted with a chewy texture, cinnamon, orange, nutmeg, and maple blended together.

Course: gluten free breakfast

Servings: 8 cups

Author: https://www.mamagourmand.com

Ingredients

• 5 cups whole oats
• 1 cup cashews whole or chopped
• 1 cup almonds whole or chopped
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• zest of 2 oranges
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. nutmeg I used freshly grated
• 12 tbsp. butter
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 tsp. salt yes, 2 tsp., but make sure to use unsalted butter

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
   
2. 
   In a large bowl mix together oats, cashews, almonds, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and orange zest. In a small saucepan melt together butter, maple syrup, and salt. Pour over the oat mixture and stir to combine.
   
3. 
   On one lined baking sheet dump the entire bowl, spreading it out evenly. Lay the second piece of parchment on top of the granola, and then place the second baking sheet (right-side up) on top of the parchment, so you have a baking sheet / granola sandwich.
   
4. 
   Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Rotate and then continue baking for 15-20 minutes until the granola is golden brown, edges are crisp, but middle is still soft.
   
5. 
   Remove top baking sheet and parchment, let cool, and then break up into chunks.
   
6. 
   Store in airtight container for several weeks, if it lasts that long!

Recipe Notes

Adapted from The Bojon Gourmet

This makes a ton of granola because we eat it for a couple weeks or I package it up for gifts. If you don't need as much, you can halve the recipe.