Sweet and Salty Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

These were so good that I had to give most of them away immediately or risk eating the entire pan myself within a stupidly short span of time. They are no-bake and the hardest part is waiting until they're cooled to start eating them. In fact, I did a terrible job of that and ate quite a lot of it while it was still warm and gooey. And as long as you don't care about it being in the shape of a granola bar, you should definitely do the same thing. Shapes are overrated. They taste awesome - that's what matters.

These are just delightful. And very hard to stop eating. And super easy to make. And that, friends, is a dangerous trifecta - but one that I can only recommend.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars (Adapted from this recipe)
Makes one 8" x 8" pan of bars

1/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. crunchy peanut butter (I used this kind)
1/2 cup crushed cashews
1 cup gluten-free oats
1 cup Honey Nut Chex crumbs (I started with about 1 1/2 cups whole Honey Nut Chex and ground them in a food processor)
3 tbsp. flaxseed meal
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Line an 8" x 8" pan with wax paper.

Combine the agave nectar, honey, and peanut butter in a small saucepan. Melt together over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or just until it starts to simmer.

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, combine the cashews, oats, Honey Nut Chex crumbs, flaxseed meal, and salt. Pour the hot liquid mixture in and mix well. Add in the chocolate chips and stir again.

Pour the entire mixture into the pan and press down firmly. Let cool completely, then slice into bars. Store in an airtight container.

Product Plug: Jessica's Natural Gluten-free Granola

I don't often promote products on my site, but I recently came across something that made me so excited that I had to share it with you all.

And that something is this:

This. Granola. Is. Amazing. And because I start every single morning with a bowl of granola, I've tried my fair share of different brands of gluten-free granola over the last five years.

It harkens back to my pre-celiac days (which can also be referred to as "The Days of Bulk Bin Purchases") when I would go to my local natural food store and buy perfect and delicious granola in bulk. It was crunchy and sweet, with big chunks of honey-soaked oats and nuts - the kind of granola that (and this may be a weird way to describe something I just called "crunchy") just melts in your mouth. It's the kind of granola that I have only tasted in memory since going gluten-free over four and a half years ago, despite many attempts on my part to recreate it in my own kitchen.

Until now, that is. To me, this granola tastes exactly like the amazing bulk bin granola of my gluten-ful days. It's both dairy- and gluten-free and is made with certified gluten-free oats. And there are five different flavors to choose from - so far, I've had the Pecan Almond, Vanilla Maple, and Chocolate Chip and have been equally (that is to say, VERY) impressed with all three.

And just as a disclaimer, I stumbled across this granola quite on my own at Whole Foods in St. Louis during a holiday visit to see my family, so I wasn't solicited by the company to write a review. I have never seen this brand in Massachusetts (which is part of why I pounced on it in St. Louis and bought more bags than I could possibly have eaten during a 9-day visit). But I did find that you can buy in bulk from Jessica's Natural Foods' website and she will Fedex your order to you in just a few days for a flat fee of $5. You might even get a handwritten "thank you" on your invoice. And! If you purchase online, she'll send you 2 free bags of granola when you buy 6, making the unit price of each bag about a dollar less than what you'd find in the store (and that's factoring in the shipping cost). Totally worth it. I ordered mine on Wednesday night and it was already here on Saturday morning.

So, you know, it's up to you. But I'm just saying - if you miss granola since being diagnosed and have been disappointed by the gluten-free versions you've tried so far, I think you will love this. And I think you'll be glad you bought in bulk once you taste it. (I'm a little afraid of how quickly I will be out of granola, to be honest.)

To find out more and/or place an order, visit Jessica's Natural Foods website here. Also, to see another review and read a short Q&A with Jessica, click here.

No Bake Chex Mix Granola Bars

I've had a couple of attempts at granola bars recently, mainly because they can get so expensive to buy at the store.  So far, mine have mostly turned into granola because they just won't flippin' stay together long enough to be called bars. 

I won't claim that these are the sturdiest of bars.  But as you can see, they stayed in the shape of bars long enough to be photographed.  So that's something.  They actually stayed bars all day, especially if they were in the fridge.  I don't think they'd necessarily survive a long hike in a backpack (at least, not without some serious tupperware protection), but they have definite potential for someone who is looking for bars for light use. I know I'll be making them again.

And they are really, really tasty.  A friend of mine had sent me a link for Grain-free Granola Bars, and I thought, why not?  It fits in with my general pursuit of bars at the moment.  But I'm not grain-free, nor did I want to rely solely on nuts for my bars.  So I adapted it and added some finely ground-up honey nut chex, and more honey than what was originally called for.  I also studded mine with some crushed chocolate chips because.....well, I don't have a reason, actually.  Because chocolate is never a bad thing to add. 

If you want a stickier bar, feel free to add more honey, or maybe some agave nectar or maple syrup.  Experiment with your own favorite combination of nuts, seeds, and dried fruit.  Go with Cinnamon Chex instead of Honey Nut.  Make these your own!

No Bake Chex Mix Granola Bars (Adapted from "Grain-free Granola Bars" on the Joyful Abode blog)
Makes one 8 x 8 pan of granola bars (about 15 small bars)
*You can double this recipe for thicker bars, or for a 9 x 13 pan.

1 cup Honey Nut Chex, ground finely
1/4 cup almond meal
3/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds, ground finely (but not into a paste/butter!)
2 - 3 tbsp. of combination of flax seeds, chia seeds, and sesame seeds, ground up finely
1 tsp. salt
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (I used Let's Go Organic 40% Reduced Fat)
1/2 cup dried cranberries (or your favorite dried fruit)
1/2 cup honey
2 tbsp. coconut oil (substitute another oil or butter if you don't have it)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 - 1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 - 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Don't preheat the oven.  They're no-bake - yay!

Line an 8 x 8 pan with a sheet of wax paper (believe me, you'll want to have that paper there or you'll never get these out of the pan whole).

In a large bowl, combine the ground chex, almond meal, ground sunflower seeds, salt, ground flax, chia, and sesame seeds, dried cranberries, and the shredded coconut.

In a small saucepan, heat combine the honey, coconut oil, vanilla, and cinnamon.  Heat over low-medium heat until melted and it starts to bubble.  Pour over the dry mixture and stir well to coat.

Pour it into the pan and if desired, sprinkle the chocolate chips over the mixture (they might melt a little if it's still warm from the honey/coconut oil).  Using another piece of wax paper, press it really hard into the pan.  Like, really hard.  Remember, you want these to become bars!

Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.  When ready to eat, remove the wax paper from the pan and cut into bars.  Store in the fridge so they stay in bar form.

Blueberry Cobbler Granola

I'll confess that granola is not actually what I set out to make yesterday.  I was trying to make snack bars.  You know, the kind that, uh, don't fall apart when you try to eat them.  But this turned out to be an ambitious goal.  No matter how much honey I added, they stubbornly refused to stay together in bar form.

But that's ok.  I was putting too much pressure on them to be something they're not.  This was a granola recipe from the beginning.  I see that now.

And once I just let it be granola, it all fell into place. At first I was going to call this Blueberry Muffin Granola, but when I shared it with two of my friends, they immediately said it tasted more like cobbler.  Which makes sense, since it probably shares more ingredients with cobbler than muffins.  But, the point is really that it will taste like a delicious baked blueberry dessert of some kind, and you'll probably have a hard time not eating all of it from the pan.

I had originally added only 1/4 cup of honey, but after baking them for about 20 minutes, it was clear that the mixture was too dry to stay together in bar form.  So I added another 1/4 cup in the hopes that this would help - but it didn't.  And then I ended up with really sticky, soft granola.  Which, again, was delicious, but feel free to adjust the amount of honey according to your own tastes, since it's not going to stay together anyway.

I'm sure this would be wonderful with other add-ins - maybe some flax or chia seeds, or nuts, or a different combination of dried fruit.  Go crazy if you feel like it.  But if you're a blueberry fan, stick with what you know.  You won't be disappointed.

Blueberry Cobbler Granola

1 1/2 cups gluten-free rolled oats
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1/2 - 1 cup dried blueberries
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 - 1/2 cup honey
2 tbsp. maple syrup
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 - 3/4 cup vanilla almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Line a 8 x 8 pan with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, toss the oats, coconut, blueberries, salt, and cinnamon together.  Combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and mix together lightly, then toss with the oats.

Spread over the pan evenly and place in the oven for at least 30 minutes (for a softer granola) and for up to 50 minutes (for a crunchier granola).  Stir around every 10 minutes or so, and remove when you're happy with how browned it is.

Store in the refrigerator until ready to eat.  If there's any left.

Health Nut Crunchy Granola

You know how granola you buy at the store always has that wonderful crunch?  It's not the crunch of over-baking - it's the crunch of perfect baking.  Not too hard, and not too soft.  It's the kind you marvel at with each bite - light, crisp, and utterly addictive.  It's a melt-in-your-mouth kind of crunch.

I eat homemade granola for breakfast almost every day, and every time I make a new batch, I tweak my recipe a little bit in an attempt to make it taste like one from the shelves of Whole Foods.  I've tried different ratios of liquid to dry ingredients, different ingredients, and different baking temperatures.  And it turns out, that particular kind of crunch is not all that easy to achieve - at least, not until you've discovered a few secret tips after many failed attempts.  (Well, maybe not failed - I never made a batch I couldn't eat.  They just weren't perfect.)

Yesterday, somehow, I hit upon a magical combination of ingredients, baking temperature, and baking time.  I'm not saying this recipe is perfect yet.  But I'm sharing it with you because it is really, really, really good - by far, the best granola I've ever made.  The flavor is addictive, and the best part is that it doesn't rely on a lot of oil for its texture.  Instead, it's packed full of nuts, pure nut butter, and seeds.  If you can't have any of the ingredients listed, you can easily substitute the same amount of something else.  For instance, if you can't have nuts, use all Sunbutter; if you can't have almond butter, you can substitute all Sunbutter or use peanut butter instead.  Don't like sesame seeds?  Leave them out and put in more flaxseeds.  If you like dried fruit in your granola, go ahead and add some.  I'm going to keep working on it until it's perfect, but for now, this makes a fantastic breakfast on its own, or sprinkled over some fruit and yoghurt.  It's full of flavor - but it's also healthy.

And the crunch?  That's the best part.  It's there, too. 

Health Nut Crunchy Granola
Makes 2 - 3 cups of granola

1 cup gluten-free oats (make sure to talk to your doctor before starting to eat oats if you have celiac!)
2/3 cup shredded coconut
1/3 cup whole cashews, ground or crumbled
1/3 cup almond meal
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1 tbsp. flaxseeds
1 tbsp. sesame seeds
1/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp. Earth Balance Buttery Spread (or oil)
1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. agave nectar (can substitute honey)
1 1/2 tbsp. almond butter
1 1/2 tbsp. Sunbutter (can use either all Sunbutter or all almond butter if needed)
3 tsp. gluten-free vanilla

Preheat oven to 300 F.  Spray a glass baking dish with non-stick spray.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, coconut, ground cashews, almond meal, flaxseed, sesame seeds, buckwheat flour, cinnamon, and salt.  Mix well and set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, water, Earth Balance, honey, agave nectar, almond butter, Sunbutter, and vanilla.  Heat over medium heat until it starts to simmer and everything has melted together.  Pour immediately over the dry ingredients and stir very well to mix.  Make sure all of the dry ingredients have been coated.

At this point, the granola will be very sticky and will look like one big clump.  Spread into the glass pan and place in the oven.  Bake at 300 F for 45 - 50 minutes, reaching in every 5 - 7 minutes to stir.  If you want lots of big chunks in your granola, don't break up the clumps; if you want lots of smaller clumps, do a stir-and-chop to get the consistency you want. 

The granola is done when it's got a sort of golden hue and when the clumps are not breaking apart easily when you stir the granola.  They will not be completely crunchy yet (they'll get crunchier as they cool), but they should taste kind of toasted - slightly hard on the outside and a little softer on the inside.

Remove to a large plate or another pan and spread out to cool.  When completely cooled, store in a container with an airtight lid in the refrigerator for longer shelf-life.

Decadently Chewy Granola Bars

Yes, that's right.  I'm going to call these decadent, even though they are also healthy.  I haven't had a lot of luck in the past with granola bar recipes, with the main problem being how they tend to fall apart right away, crumbling sadly into a chunky granola the moment I remove them from the pan.  Still delicious?  Yes - but not the point!  What I have wanted for so long is a healthy and convenient gluten-free snack on-the-go.  True, it's something that has become commercially easier to find in recent years, but the store-bought gluten-free granola bars leave a lot to be desired, in my opinion, between the slightly-off texture and more-than-slightly off taste, often evocative of cardboard.
 

These don't resemble cardboard.  Not even a little bit.  They're chewy, full of flavor, and you can tailor them to whatever ingredients you want and/or have on hand.  Don't have coconut?  No problem!  Add more oats or almond meal.  Don't like cranberries?  Add whatever fruit you DO like.  As long as you keep the basic ratio of dry ingredients to wet ingredient roughly the same, it shouldn't matter what you substitute here.  (Just try to avoid super absorbent flours like coconut flour without adjusting the liquid ingredients, too).  Get ready to snack!


Decadently Chewy Granola Bars

1 ¼ cups gluten-free oats (remove 1/3 cup to grind into oat flour)

½ cup buckwheat flakes (or substitute more oats if you don't have buckwheat flakes)

½ - ¾ cup sugar (I used a little less than 2/3 cup, but follow your own taste)

1 cup almond meal*

½ cup dried cranberries (or any other dried fruit)

½ cup coconut flakes**

1/3 cup mixed seeds (sunflower, sesame, and linseed)

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup + 2 tsp. honey, agave, or maple syrup (I used half honey/half agave, but you can use all of one or the other)

¼ cup Sunbutter***

3 tbsp. Earth Balance Buttery Spread

3 tbsp. applesauce (I used my homemade applesauce)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 tbsp. water

*You can substitute another kind of nut meal, like hazelnut meal.
**If you hate coconut, substitute more almond meal or more fruit/nuts
***You can substitute any other kind of nutbutter here.

Preheat the oven to 325 F.  Line an 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper and coat with non-stick spray. (Warning: if you use wax paper, it will probably stick to your baked granola bars, so beware!)

Measure out the 1 1/4 cups oats first, and then remove 1/3 cup of them and grind them into oat flour (you can use your coffee grinder - I did!).  Place the oats and oat flour in a large bowl, and then add the rest of the dry ingredients, including the cinnamon and salt.  If you don't like cranberries and almond flour, don't worry - just add your own favorite nuts/seeds/dried fruits in the same amounts and you will be fine.  

Place the Sunbutter, honey/agave nectar, Earth Balance, applesauce, vanilla, and water.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly to avoid burning, and when it comes to a simmer and everything has melted together, remove from heat and pour over the dry ingredients.  Mix well until all dry ingredients have been moistened.

Pour into the prepared pan and, using a spoon or your fingers, press down firmly and evenly into the pan.  Place in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until the edges and top are browned.  Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely before cutting (if you can stand to wait that long).  When they are completely cooled, place them in the fridge for another hour or so before cutting them so they'll stick together even better.

Remove from fridge and cut into whatever shape your heart desires.  I cut mine into thirds, and then into sixths the other way, for slightly smaller bars.  Store in an airtight container and return to the fridge for maximum shelf life.

Crunchy Nutty Honey-kissed Granola

Being gluten-free means being a cook and a baker by default.  I rarely eat any processed foods that come out of a package ready-to-eat anymore.  For me, spending time in the kitchen preparing my meals in advance has become second nature, and I've since forgotten the convenience of being able to pick something off of a store shelf and eat it.

I have my standard recipes that I make over and over again, partly out of convenience and habit.  And I love them.  But it's not that I eat these things out of sheer convenience; I happen to enjoy the tastes I've perfected in these dishes to the point where they have become default comfort meals.  Being a person of routine only supports this; if I find something I love to eat for breakfast, which is also healthy, chances are I will eat it every single day without ever getting bored with it.  I appreciate the consistency - and the flavor - in that.

But sometimes, it can be a very good thing to leave the comfortable food arena and to experiment a little bit, even if it means just a tweak to what you've been doing.  That's how this granola came about: it was a departure.  As I was preparing to make my weekly batch of granola, I found that I was almost out of buckwheat flakes, and after surveying my cabinets, decided to experiment a bit with a mixture of grains and nuts that I had on hand.  What resulted was a deliciously flaky and crumbly granola that packs a protein punch and is the perfect way to start the morning.

Crunchy Nutty Honey-Kissed Granola

1/3 cup buckwheat flakes

1/3 cup rice flakes

1/3 cup gluten-free oats

1/2 cup coconut flakes

3 tbsp. sunflower seeds

2 tbsp. linseeds

3 tbsp. buckwheat flour

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 - 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/3 cup chopped mixed nuts (I used crushed hazelnuts, almond slivers, and chopped cashew pieces)

1/3 cup dried cranberries (or favorite dried fruit of your choice)

3/4 cup honey

3 tbsp. macadamia nut butter (optional)

2 - 3 tsp. gluten-free vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Spray a glass 8 x 8 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients (everything but the honey, macadamia nut butter, and vanilla).  Combine well.

In a small saucepan, mix the honey, macadamia nut butter, and vanilla and heat over a medium flame, stirring frequently, until the mixture turns thin and starts to bubble. Pour the honey mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix in very thoroughly.  Spread the mixture into the baking dish evenly, and place in the preheated oven for 20 - 35 minutes, depending on how soft or crunchy you prefer your granola to be.

Serve with soy milk, over fruit, with non-dairy yogurt, or plain!

Crunchy Buckwheat Granola

I can’t find everything here in Swaziland that I used to eat in the U.S. I miss Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, but not as terribly since I discovered a tiny little health food store in the main plaza of Mbabane. When I first walked in, I had to do a double take. There were shelves with gluten-free pasta, a bag of gluten-free muesli, potato and rice flour, corn cakes, dried fruits, seeds, and nuts, and even a few different gluten-free protein bars. The one thing I have really been craving here is a good granola, but I have not managed to find any gluten-free oats anywhere (which was not surprising to me). But the last time I was there, I noticed a small package tucked onto one of the shelves. I thought I had seen everything the store had, but here was a little bag of buckwheat flakes that had been hiding behind the rye flakes and rolled oats. I took them home and tried first to create an oatmeal-like porridge, but I wasn’t terribly impressed with the lumpy mush that I came up with. My second attempt to use them was in place of regular oats in baked granola, and here, I hit the jackpot. When the granola is baked, the buckwheat flakes are a perfect substitute for rolled oats. They clump together beautifully, and together with flaked coconut, dried cranberries, and an assortment of seeds, make a hearty, chunky granola that is just as good as any I’ve made with oats. For those who are sensitive to oats, this would make a great alternative. And although I've approximated the amount of each ingredient I added, this recipe is very loose and you can add more or less of each ingredient according to your own taste.


Crunchy Buckwheat Granola

1 ½ cups buckwheat flakes (*these are difficult to find in the US; you can substitute quinoa flakes or gf rolled oats)
½ cup flaked coconut
½ cup dried cranberries (or dried fruit of your choice)
½ cup seeds and nuts of your choice (I used sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, linseeds, and sesame seeds) dash of salt
½ cup creamy peanut butter or sunflower butter
½ cup honey
1 – 2 tsp vanilla to taste
¼ - ½ tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 300 F. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir to mix. Place a saucepan over low-medium heat and add the peanut butter, honey, vanilla, and cinnamon. Cook until the mixture is completely melted, and then pour immediately over the dry mixture. Stir to ensure that it is spread evenly throughout the mix, then pour into a baking dish that has been sprayed with baking spray or rubbed with oil. Bake for 20 – 30 minutes, depending on how crunchy you like your granola. Stir once or twice during the baking time. When the granola has finished baking, remove the pan from the oven and place the granola onto a plate to cool. When cooled, break apart the clumps and enjoy! Store in an airtight container (I store mine in the fridge).

Crunchy Maple Sunbutter Granola

I have been making food for myself to bring along as snacks on my upcoming trip to Israel, and I've been trying to create a variety for myself so I don't get totally sick of one thing. I used to love crunchy granola in my pre-celiac days, and now that I've started eating oats again, I wanted to try to create my own granola. My first attempt at granola was good, but it was more like muesli; it wasn't crunchy and didn't clump together at all. So this time, I used sunbutter and maple butter to add thickness and stickiness, and it turned out beautifully. It made the whole apartment smell wonderful, and it tasted absolutely delicious. The maple butter and honey added a touch of sweetness, but the sunbutter filled out the taste and texture and balanced that sweetness. I will be making this often!  

Crunchy Maple Sunbutter Granola

1 1/2 cups oats (certified gluten-free)
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup roasted cashews
1/4 cup toasted pecans
1/4 cup raisins (or more to taste)
1/4 cup cranberries (or more to taste)
**You can substitute any other dried fruit, nuts, or seeds of your choice - this would be great with: sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, slivered almonds, dried cherries, etc.
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup sunbutter (or peanut butter)
1/2 cup maple butter or creamed honey
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 300 F. In a large bowl, combine the oats, coconut flakes, cashews, pecans, raisins, cranberries, and cinnamon. Add any other nuts, seeds, etc. that you would like and mix well. In a small saucepan, combine the sunbutter, maple butter, honey, and vanilla and heat until melted. It will still be pretty thick. Pour it into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix very well until the heated mixture has been spread throughout the mixture. I used two spoons and sort of chopped the chunks of sunbutter into the oats. Line a baking dish with wax or parchment paper. Pour the mixture into the pan and bake at 300 F for 30 - 40 minutes. The granola will still feel soft when you take it out of the oven, but it will harden as it cools.

Maple Cranberry Granola

I love granola, and I love maple anything. Tonight, I was trying to rest and recover from the bad sore throat/cold that has me down this week, but after a whole day of being in bed and another night today of just sitting around, I was itching to do something. I've missed granola since going gluten-free, and so tonight I just threw this together as an experiment. It turned out to be very tasty, although next time I would probably bake mine for a little less time. (Mine was in the oven for about 37 minutes and turned out to be rather crispy, and I probably could have taken it out after 30.) Feel free to throw any other types of dried fruit, seeds, or nuts, as this is completely versatile and can be adapted to your own taste. You could also substitute honey for the maple syrup if you prefer.

Maple Cranberry Granola

1 cup gluten-free oats or soy flakes
1/2 cup organic unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup cranberries, raisins, or a combination of both
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp. canola oil
1/4 cup very hot water
1 tsp. gluten-free vanilla

Preheat oven to 300 F. Place a sheet of wax paper on a baking pan (preferably one with sides). Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the maple syrup, oil, water, and vanilla, and stir to mix. Pour over the dry mixture and toss to coat thoroughly. Spread evenly into the pan. Bake for 15 minutes, then stir the granola around, and bake in 5 minute increments until the desired crispness is reached. Cool, and then store refrigerated for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.  Keep it in the fridge and it will last even longer.