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Variations on a fantastic granola recipe for people with blood sugar challenges.

My mom could cut up an apple, and it would be the best apple you have ever eaten. It's gotta be her energy that makes the food so good. Mom's ingredients have evolved over the years. The style has stayed constant, but the quality became more whole, less refined. She healed a number of nagging health challenges through a conscious diet, and I watched this work. There can't be a better way to teach your child a lesson.

My friends know mom can cook. And a couple of items have landed on the best sellers list. Mom's Granola held it's #1 spot for quite a long stretch. She now makes small bags of this granola and keeps it in her freezer, able to pass it out as soon as someone gets that look in their eye.

I love Mom's Granola. Unfortunately for me, the recipe has honey in it. Honey is fine, even healthy for most, but I can't eat it in the mass quantity that I want to eat it. So, I recently took Mom's Granola recipe and experimented with some variations that appease my opinionated blood sugar. So, my own freezer is now busting with granola bags, and two of them rose to the top. I'm going to share mom's original recipe (which evolved from The Bread Beckers Recipe Collection, a great company out of Woodstock, GA that sells bulk grain) and my two variations...

Mom's Granola
4 Cups Organic Rolled Oats
1 Stick Organic Butter
1 t Cinnamon (Optional, depending upon Mom's mood)
1/2 Cup Honey
1 Cup Almonds (Whole, Slivered or Blanched)
3/4 cup Yellow Raisins
3/4 cup Dark Raisins

At least one or all three of the following:
3/4 Cup Pecans
3/4 Cup Walnuts
3/4 Cup Cashews

Optional, add them all if you feel like it:
1/2 cup dried Cranberries
1/2 cup diced dried Apples
1/2 cup diced dried Apricots
1/2 cup dried Black Cherries

Preheat oven to 400. In a small saucepan, melt butter and honey together. Stir cinnamon into honey-butter mixture (if you are in the mood). In a large casserole dish or sheet pan (casserole dish makes stirring less messy, says Mom), mix rolled oats with nuts excluding all dried fruit. Pour honey butter mixture over oat-nut mixture and stir until fully coated. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, stir and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven, stir and your granola may be done. Or it may need another 5-10 minutes based on your oven and toasting preference. Once granola is removed from oven, immediately stir in all dried fruit. Set aside to cool. Store in freezer for longest shelf-life.

Molly's Variation #1 - Agave Granola

I still have to use Agave in moderation, but I find this recipe good for dessert parfaits and as a treat.

4 Cups Organic Rolled Oats
1 Stick Organic Butter
1/3 Cup Agave Nectar
1 Cup Organic Unsweetened Coconut
1 Cup Almonds (Whole, Slivered or Blanched)
1 Cup Currants

One or all of the following:
3/4 Cup Cashews
3/4 Cup Pecans
3/4 Cup Walnuts

Preheat oven to 400. In a small saucepan, melt butter and agave together. On a large sheet pan, mix together rolled oats, coconut and nuts. Pour agave-butter over rolled oats mixture and stir to coat. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, stir and return to oven for 5 minutes. Remove from oven, stir and granola may be done. If not, return to oven for additional 5 minute increments. Once granola is removed from the oven, stir in currants. Set aside to cool. Store in freezer for longest shelf-life.

Molly's Variation #2 - Stevia Granola

Stevia is an herb that grows as a small shrub in Paraguay. The leaves have a sweet taste and a zero glycemic index. It has a slightly strong aftertaste that some don't like. The aftertaste is similar to an artificial sweetener making you wonder if this unfamiliar powder is safe. But, certain Indian tribes of South America have using stevia leaves for hundreds of years. And, the whole leaf, which you can purchase at some health food stores and add to your loose tea bags when steeping, tastes to me the exact same as the extract. So with this in mind, I choose to use it. Stevia can be purchased in liquid and powder form at all health food stores.

This recipe does not give me a sugar spike at all. I eat this for breakfast with plain kefir and blueberries. Yum!

4 Cups Organic Rolled Oats
1 Stick Organic Butter
2 Packets of Stevia Powder
1 Cup Organic Unsweetened Coconut
1 Cup Almonds (Whole, Slivered or Blanched)
1 Cup Currants

One or all of the following:
3/4 Cup Cashews
3/4 Cup Pecans
3/4 Cup Walnuts

Preheat oven to 400. In a small saucepan, melt butter and stevia together. On a large sheet pan, mix together rolled oats, coconut and nuts. Pour stevia-butter over rolled oats mixture and stir to coat. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, stir and return to oven for 5 minutes. Remove from oven, stir and granola may be done. If not, return to oven for additional 5 minute increments. Once granola is removed from the oven, stir in currants. Set aside to cool. Store in freezer for longest shelf-life.

Variations of Mom's Granola for all shapes and sizes... Enjoy!

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