A Great New Year's DIY Gift (and yummy too!)

Everyone is watching their wallets this year, so home-made gifts are super popular right now. Here’s a great idea from guest blogger, my sister Aileen. 
It’s really healthy, delicious and easy to make. Of course, buying granola at the store is faster, but home-made granola tastes better and uses better ingredients.


CRUNCH GRANOLA

Yield: 8 cups (around 16 servings)
TIme: 40 minutes

This is a base recipe for granola. You can basically add anything you want to it: grains such as rye or wheat; dried fruit like cranberries or blueberries; spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom; any kind of nut or seed such as flax seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, pecans, walnuts, etc. You can also include chocolate or peanut butter chips, orange zest or crystallized ginger.

Ingredients:

6 cups of rolled oats (not quick-cooking or instant)
2 cups mixed nuts and/or seeds (I like using 1/2 almond and 1/2 cashews)
1 cup dried unsweetened shredded coconut, optional
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or to taste
Dash of salt
1 cup honey or maple syrup, or to taste
1 cup raisins or chopped dried fruit, optional (I like red/golden raisins, cranberries and blueberries)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the oats, coconut, nuts/seeds, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.
2. Pour wet ingredients over it (honey, vanilla) and mix together. 
3. Spread mixture into two 11 x 17 brownie pans. Bake for 30 minutes or more, stirring every 10 minutes or so. The granola should brown evenly. The browner it becomes (without burning) the crunchier the granola will turn out!
4. Remove pans from oven and add raisins or dried fruit substitute. Cool on a rack, stirring once in a while until granola is room temperature.
5. Transfer to a sealed container. If stored in a cool, dry place, it should keep up to 2 weeks. If kept in the refrigerator, it should keep indefinitely.


Gift Wrap:

It's all about the presentation! I found these nice jars at Sur La Table for $3 each and filled them with the granola.  

1. I designed and printed out 2.5" diameter circle labels and glued them on top of the jars. You can cut circles out of construction paper and hand write your labels also. 

2. The same goes for the hang tags, which are just 5"w by 1"h pieces of paper folded in half with a slit cut in it. You can write messages or list the ingredients. 

3. String a ribbon loop through the slit and double knot. 

4. Then wrap a long ribbon around the top of the jar through the metal fasteners. String the hang tag through. 

5. Tie a ribbon at the opening of the jar and curl by running a scissor blade down the length of the ribbon. And there you have it: a delicious, healthy, presentable and affordable gift for any occasion.


Have a happy and safe New Year's Eve!