big cluster maple granola pg. 26

Last night, I found myself alone in the kitchen at 9:30pm. Bruce & Kathy were exhausted from their day working at the house, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning and carrying belongings from one place to another to arrange in their lovely new space. And since it was a faux Sunday night, Vaden went up early, too. Ummm, what should I do? Wondering, I turned to the SmitKit book and the granola recipe leaped out at me. I do love granola and have been making it for years. This recipe is remarkably similar to mine, which I have tinkered with and gotten pretty close to perfect, according to my family and fans. <smile> Sometimes I even give it for Christmas gifts.

All ready, assemble, pretty easy. As you can see, I used almonds and pumpkin seeds instead of walnuts (because someone would have to rush me to the hospital if I ate any - my throat swells closed and makes it v difficult to breathe) and coconut.

Here it is on the pan before going into the oven.

After 25 minutes, I attempted to turn over without disturbing chunks. Notice use of the word "attempted" as most chunks were disturbed. But I don't think they were annoyed.

And after another 20 minutes, I took it out of the oven.

Vaden followed her nose downstairs just as it was coming out of the oven and had a bowl of warm granola with (gasp) a little half and half. She said it was good but didn't think it was crunchy. I waited til it was cooler for my bowl and it is definitely crunchier than what I usually make. The egg white made all the difference, I think. The astounding thing to me was the small amount of oil - 2T - compared to what I usually use - 1/3 cup, which I didn't think was much. I'd say this recipe is a keeper!