My Emergency Breakfast recipe

You know those mornings when you just can't hardly pull yourself out of bed, much less dress many little people, help make their beds, comb tangled hair...??? Oh and then there is breakfast.  I nearly forgot.  Now I am thinking  frantically, "what do I have that I can quickly put on some plates?" And what will fill them up?  Because almost worse than waking up, for me, is having a houseful of children who suddenly blood sugar crash from a weak breakfast.

My go to breakfast on these days is granola and yogurt. They all like it.  And I like it, for that matter.

But really who likes buying eight to ten boxes of granola a month?  I know I don't.  Seriously, it can be nearly depressing to go through a box of cereal in one morning!  So I decided to do something about this.

I had some criteria for my recipe.  No sugar added!  It had to be crunchy.  I wanted it loaded with healthy stuff(otherwise I don't see a whole lot of point to the effort).  And it had to be made in huge batches so it could be done every other week at most. 

After some work I have a keeper.  And the recipe's finalization coincided with the discovery of a natural food coop through some people at our church.  Thus, I now buy almost all of the ingredients at wholesale prices and freeze them in tubs.  I would highly suggest bulk buying if you attempt much granola making!

Without further ado....

Mix in a giant bowl:
4 1/2 C Rolled Oats (Old Fashioned)
2 1/2 C Steel Cut Oats (AKA Oat Groats: they are much better for you than rolled oats)
1 C shredded Coconut
1/2 C sesame seeds
1 C Raw Wheat Germ
3/4 C sliced almonds
1/4 C poppy seeds
3/4 C sunflower kernels
1 tsp salt
1-2 Tbs Cinnamon

In a four cup measuring cup whisk together:
1 C Honey (raw is best)
1/2 C Oil (I use peanut)
1/2 C real maple syrup
1 Tbs real vanilla extract

Pour the liquid into the mixed dry goods and stir very well with a wooden spoon.  Spread onto a large pan (I use the large stoneware bar pan from Pampered Chef) a thin layer of not more than 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick.  This recipe makes three to four bar pan batches.

Bake at 300 for 35 minutes.  Note: if you do not use stoneware I might reduce the cooking time. 
Granola tends to not look done when it is actually finished.  It will burn fast and NOT taste very good.

Remove from oven and let cool completely in pan.  While cooling sprinkle with raisins, dates, craisins, or whatever fruit you desire.  Cut it into squares and let drop into a plastic container.  This gives the granola a nice texture with some crumbs and some chunks.

Happy crunching.