Granola

I have been making this granola for a while now and it is awesome! (thanks allrecipes!) I generally half the recipe and it still makes a ton. One of the great things about granola is that it is super flexible, I have used all sorts of nut/fruit combinations and they have all been great.

INGREDIENTS:
8 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups wheat germ
1 1/2 cups oat bran
1 cup sunflower seeds (I generally use 1/2 cup sunflower seeds and 1/2 cup flax seed
1 cup finely chopped almonds
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 cup finely chopped walnuts (if I don't have walnuts, I just double the pecans)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup (I love maple and so use 1/2 cup maple syrup and 1/2 cup honey)
3/4 cup honey
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups raisins or sweetened dried cranberries (can easily use more)

DIRECTIONS:
1.Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment or aluminum foil.
2.Combine the oats, wheat germ, oat bran, sunflower seeds, almonds, pecans, and walnuts in a large bowl. Stir together the salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, oil, cinnamon, and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then pour over the dry ingredients, and stir to coat. Spread the mixture out evenly on the baking sheets.
3.Bake in the preheated oven until crispy and toasted, about 40 minutes (the original recipe says 20 min but I think they're crazy!). Stir after about 15-20 and then every 5-10 min. Be sure to keep a close eye on it at the end- it burns quickly! Cool, then stir in the raisins or cranberries before storing in an airtight container.

Pumkin-Chocolate Muffins

Lucas and I made these muffins this morning. They taste great and made our house smells delicious! I doubled the recipe (would have tripled it to use the whole can of pumpkin) and use butterscotch chips. Well.... what are you waiting for....

Insanely Good Pumpkin-Chocolate Muffins (from Food Goodness)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tbls baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 can pumpkin [edited to clarify that this should be the ‘regular’ size can of pumpkin, not the large variety — the original recipe calls for 1 CUP of pumpkin so if that’s easier use that measurement]
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tbls molasses
Some amount of chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 400˚ and lightly grease a 12 muffin tin.
• Sift (or stir well) flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices together in large bowl.• In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, milk, oil, and molasses.
• Pour wet ingredients into the dry and mix.
• Stir in your desired amount of chocolate chips
• Fill the muffin cups 2/3s full.
• Bake 18-20 minutes, until toothpick or knife inserted in center comes out clean.