Writing one granola recipe made me realize that there are two more granola recipes I must share with you (this reminds me of If You Give A Mouse A Cookie—one thing leads to another and another and another). The granola recipe I gave you last time is our most basic, no-frills recipe. I especially like to have it around in the summer time because it’s a great base to which we can add all the fresh fruits that make their way into our kitchen. But during the winter I like to make what I call Fancy Granola, and then, for a treat, I’ll sometimes make French Chocolate Granola.

Fancy Granola
This is called “Kris’s Granola” on my recipe card because my friend Kris gave me the recipe. The recipe below is hers, with a few of my changes. Don’t be afraid to change it around yourself. Make it your own. Granola encourages creativity, so don’t be shy.

18-20 cups rolled oats
3 cups raw sunflower seeds
2 cups almonds, ground in the blender
2 tablespoons, and then some, if you wish, cinnamon
1/3 cup blackstrap molasses
1 1/4 cup maple syrup
1 ½ cup canola oil

Mix the dry ingredients together in a big bowl. Put the wet ingredients in a saucepan and heat until warm and well-mixed. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry, and stir well. Spread the mixture on two large ungreased cookie sheets that have sides and roast at 275 degrees for three to four hours.

After the granola has cooled, add two to three cups of chopped nuts (English walnuts, pecans, almonds) and about three cups, or more, of dried fruit (raisins, craisins, dried cherries, dried blueberries, dates, etc.). Store in large glass jars.

French Chocolate Granola
From Orangette’s blog

At first I was turned off by this recipe. I’m not one who likes my granola sweet, especially not with chocolate. Those little containers of store-bought yogurt with an additional see-through topper of granola and chocolate chip mix-ins makes me wanna gag. Granola is supposed to be wholesome and fortifying, not a dessert food. But then I made this recipe and about died and went to heaven. Then I called up a handful of my friends and insisted that they make it, RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE. Several of them did, most likely in a desperate attempt to get me off their backs, though I choose to think it’s because they know I have fantastic food sense.

Always double the recipe. In a twelve-hour period my family ate all but one cup of a double batch: bowls of it for a bedtime snack and bowls of it for breakfast the following morning.

3 cups rolled oats
½ cup raw almonds, chopped
½ cup coconut
2 tablespoons white sugar
pinch of salt
6 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons canola oil
½ cup finely chopped bittersweet chocolate (I use the mini-est chocolate chips I can find)

Mix the dry ingredients, all but the chocolate, in a large bowl. Heat the oil and honey in a saucepan till warm and then mix with the dry ingredients. Spread in an ungreased cookie sheet that has sides and bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes till golden and crunchy. (When I think it’s done enough, I turn the oven off and let it cool in there—it gets crunchier without getting too brown.) When it’s totally cool, stir in the chocolate bits, and store in a large glass jar.