Chocolate Hazelnut Granola

Now that I'm a mom, breastfeeding takes a lot out of me. As in I'm hungry ALL THE TIME! I love granola because you can pack a lot of energy and nutrition into a small snack. Plus, oats are great for improving your milk supply if you're breastfeeding. For a while I was just having my husband buy me granola cereal at the grocery store. Then on our last shopping trip, as I looked glumly at the comparatively large price tags and small box sizes of the granola-y cereals I decided my money would be much better spend on some oats and nuts to make my own granola. I was also motivated by the ingredient lists on many of the mixed grain cereals available. Sure the Post Great Grains cereal I'd been eating before was delicious and healthier than say Coco Puffs, but sugar was still listed higher on the label than oats were.
So on to the granola making! Yesterday morning after I let the dog out, I whipped up a batch of granola, popped it in the oven, and by the time I'd finished my pre-breakfast morning chores, the granola was ready. Awesome!
Making your own granola is seriously easy and not a huge money investment for a kitchen stocked with some basics. Rolled oats can be bought in a large can for about the same price as those expensive store bought granolas; you'll get enough to make serveral batches of granola, or change it up and make oatmeal, cookies, bread... yum! Nuts are a little pricier depending on what kind you get but worth the investment I think and you only need about a cup for every 3 cups of oats. I have lots of walnuts and almonds on hand anyway because I use them in my baking all the time.
I found a great mix and match granola recipe here and came up with a chocolate hazelnut recipe.

Dry:

• 3 cups of rolled oats
• 1 cup of choppped hazelnuts
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder

Wet::

• 2/3 cup honey
• 2 tbsp canola oil

Instructions:

Easy peasy! Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a 13x9 in cake pan with foil. Use a spatula to mix dry ingredients in a large bowl, then add the wet and mix that in too. Dump the oat mixture into your baking pan and bake for 50 minutes, stirring once about half way through. For optimum crunchy goodness, let cool and store in an airtight container.
Enjoy!