How to Make Healthy Granola Cereal

This homemade cereal, using organic rolled oats, is a great alternative to commercially processed cereal. (Check out my other blog here about why commercially processed cereals are so bad.) Not only that, but this was ridiculously easy to make and an instant success in this household! My daughter Ruby LOVES this cereal and begs me to make it when we run out. My son, who can be a picky eater (and by “picky” I mean he’ll only eat like six things: chicken, salmon, bacon, pecans, apples, and my homemade fries) has recently had a really sore throat and it’s been a battle to get him to eat anything. Well, after making this cereal, he reluctantly tried one bite, and then devoured the entire bowl! I will be making this recipe quite often I imagine! Oh yeah, I’m on my second bowl right now.

Ingredients

• 3 c. Organic Rolled Oats (Get some here.)
• ½ c. Butter (1 stick)
• ½ c. Brown Sugar or Maple Syrup (You can use either one or a combination of both. I personally think the brown sugar tastes better, but the maple syrup is healthier. Grade B maple syrup is full of antioxidants and naturally occurring minerals like thiamine, calcium, and zinc. Get some here.)
• 1 T. Vanilla Extract
• 1 T. Cinnamon
• ½ t. Real Salt (Get some here.)
• *Optional: Raisins, Almonds, Pecans, Cranberries, Craisins, or anything else “granola-y” that you think would taste good

Directions

1. Preheat the over to 400ºF.
2. Heat up the butter on the stove (or if you’re in a pinch, just microwave it).
3. Add the maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt and stir.
   

   Melted Butter, Maple Syrup, Vanilla, and Cinnamon

4. Spread out the oats in a glass baking pan. (Sometimes, I just add my dry ingredients to the oats and mix them with my fingers.)
   

   Organic Rolled Oats in a Glass Baking Pan

5. Pour the butter mixture on top of the oats, and gently mix together until all of the oats are coated.
6. If you want to, you can add some raisins, cranberries, craisins, or any nuts at this point.
7. Bake for 20 minutes. (Try to stir the oats up about halfway through if you can remember.)
8. Let it cool.
   

   Baked Oats Cooling

9. Put into a bowl and pour milk over it, just like you would any other cereal. Or you can mix with some plain or vanilla yogurt for a really yummy treat!

*Note: Since this cereal is so good, I tried making a double recipe, but it just turned out awful. The oats were too chewy instead of nice and crispy even though I stirred it a bunch of times. I even tried using 4 cups of oats, but it just didn’t turn out as good as the 3 cups. So don’t mess around with this recipe!

*If you’re really digging these rolled oats, you should also check out my yummy recipe for Healthy Oatmeal Cookies.