Super Low-Fat Granola Cereal

By Addie

Serve this delicious mix for breakfast with milk, or sprinkle it over yogurt. You can add chopped walnuts or pecans, but it will increase the calorie count. —Kelly Kirby, Westville, Nova Scotia

Ingredients

• 8 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon maple flavoring
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Step 1

In a large bowl, combine the oats, raisins, apricots and cranberries; set aside. In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, water and salt. Cook and stir over medium heat for 3-4 minutes or until brown sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat; stir in maple flavoring and vanilla. Pour over oat mixture; stir to coat.

Transfer to two greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pans. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until crisp, stirring every 10 minutes. Cool completely on wire racks. Store in an airtight container. Serve with milk or yogurt. Yield: 9 cups.
............................

REVIEWS:

This is a very nice granola recepe. I will definitely be making it again. I used almond flavor instead of maple.

Excellent. I just used the brown sugar and water because I didn't want to go to the store. Can only imagine how much better it will be with the fruits. I will also in the future put it it super low in my oven and let it dehydrate for several hours. I am too ADD to watch this and it can burn kind of quick.

I am always trying new healthy granola recipes and I always find myself coming back to this one. I have now marked it as my favorite recipe. I add chopped almonds and sunflower seeds to mine to add more protein. It's very good.

Reviewed on Dec. 20, 2011 by Love2Experiment

Love this stuff! My husband is on a low fat diet and this fit the bill. It's delicious! I'm working on reducing the sugar and using dried tart cherries, apricots and blueberries.

Have made a version of this for years - thanks for sharing your version Kelly. I was turned off breakfast as a baby boomer growing up in the 50's, thanks to all the corn based boxed cereals. I very occasionally buy rice krispies, shreddies and the like for use in cookies and squares, but not for breakfast. This is a recipe that can adapt easily to personal preferences - a real keeper!

I used Splenda brown sugar mix for this recipe. It's got half the sugar but all the sweet flavour. I will be doubling up this recipe next time.

In fact I make this cereal about every two weeks. I use 3/4 cup brown sugar instead of the 1 1/2 c and its just fine. I also add 1 cup of sliced almonds and 1 cup coconut as well as 1 cup of mixed dried cherries instead of the apricots. I also add cinnamon and nutmeg both and when its done cooking I sprinkle a few mini coc chips on top and wait till its cooled and place in storage container. My hubby and I eat this every morn for breakfast. It certainly cut the cereal budget as it is cheaper and far healthier to eat. I buy the oats at Sam's Club and the dried fruit too.

I'm with you... No more buying granola for me! I was really impressed at the ease of this recipe & delicious results- easy to substitute ingredients to your family's liking! I made this this not even 2 days ago and it's almost gone!

This was very good! I did up the amounts of the maple and vanilla extract. My huband dug right in and said it was fantastic. No more buying granola for us!

When I saw the sugar content of this granola, I decided to experiment with the recipe and reduce the brown sugar to 1/2 cup (I used 2 Tbsp and a tsp of water). Unfortunately, the result was that the granola cooked more quickly and burnt by the time it had been in the oven for 20 minutes. The dried cranberries were nearly black. The potential of this recipe is wonderful, however, (the unburnt granola is delicious) and definitely worth a try. Just keep in mind that if you reduce the sugar, reduce the cooking time as well!