Cold Cereal Alternative - Homemade Granola

(Updates are in italics)
I have reduced our grocery budget a LOT by serving food other than cold cereal at breakfast.

I FINALLY found a granola recipe I love! I think the recipes I was using always called for honey and I just didn't care for them. My family eats this mixed with yogurt or mixed with store bought cereal and milk.

Homemade Granola
Preheat oven to 375

In a bowl combine:

• 3 c. old fashioned oats
• 1 c. almonds (or any other kind of nut)
• 1/2 c. brown sugar (or more depending on how sweet you like your cereal - I increased the amount of brown sugar and stopped using maple syrup)
• 1/8 c. dry milk (I don't use dry milk at all anymore. There has been some debate about powdered dry milk containing oxidized cholesterol. I have no idea if it's true or not, but it sounds bad
• sprinkle cinnamon over the top and mix well

In a different bowl combine:

• 1/8 c. maple syrup (I don't use this anymore. I was using homemade maple flavored syrup and not the real thing.)
• 1/2 c melted butter (previously I used 1/8 cup oil with the maple syrup)
• 1/4 t. salt (decreased the amount of salt from 3/4 t. since I am using salted butter)
• 1 t. vanilla (I don't use this because I ran out of homemade)

Pour wet ingredients over dry and mix well. Now here is the cool part about baking them. I believe it was on moneysavingmom that I read you could make "lazy granola". Which is this:

Spread the granola out in a 9X13 pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Stir, turn the oven off, put the oats back in and let sit overnight. This was so much easier than the other recipe I was using and oh so good! 

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New Recipe without all of my babbling:

Homemade Granola

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. In a bowl combine:
• 3 c. old fashioned oats
• 1 c. almonds (or any other kind of nut)
• 1/3 - 1/2 c. brown sugar (depending on how sweet you like your cereal)
• sprinkle cinnamon over the top
• 1/4 t. salt
• mix well
3. Pour 1/2 c. - 2/3 c. melted butter over the top
4. Spread the granola out in a 9X13 pan.
5. Bake for 10 minutes.
6. Stir, turn the oven off, put the oats back in and let sit overnight. I have found that I have to stir it a few more times after I turn the oven off.

Check out other recipes at Grocery Cart Challenge and 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven.