Mountain School @ Home: Lesson 8 – Making Granola

Students! Parents! Teachers! During this time of school closures and stay-at-home guidelines, North Cascades Institute is sharing lessons and activities from our talented Mountain School instructors. We hope these will inspire students of all ages to continue to learn about the natural world and discover new connections to the outdoors from home. This lesson offers a glimpse inside the Learning Center’s kitchen with a recipe created by Head Chef Justin Daniels.

Making Granola

A popular staple of Mountain School breakfasts is our kitchen’s original Mountain School Granola. Served with berries over yogurt, or with a splash of almond milk, this stuff is delicious crunchy goodness! It’s also hearty enough to power learners of any age through a morning spent in the woods. We’re happy to share the recipe so now you can enjoy it at home!

While the kitchen routinely makes gallons of Mountain School Granola, this recipe makes just 4-6 quarts, depending on the addition of optional ingredients like raisins, cranberries, and other dried fruits.

Ingredients:

• 9 c. gluten-free oats
• 1 c. flaked coconut
• 1 c. pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 c. flax seeds, or ground flax seeds
• 1/2 c. hulled hemp seeds
• 1 c. sunflower seeds
• 1 t. kosher salt
• 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 t. ground cardomom
• 1/8 t. ground clove
• 3/4 c. honey
• 3/4 c. maple syrup
• 1 c. canola oil
• 2 t. vanilla extract

Optional Ingredients:

• 1 c. golden raisins
• 1 c. cranberries
• 1 c. other dried fruit

Directions:

1. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl.
2. Combine wet ingredients in a bowl.
3. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and stir until evenly distributed.
4. Spread the granola onto rimmed baking sheets.
5. Bake at 250 degrees F. Setting the timer to stir every 30 minutes or so.
6. Bake for 2-3 hours and cool completely.
7. If the optional ingredients are preferred, stir the raisins, cranberries and other dried fruit into the granola and store in a large airtight container.

Download lesson as PDF

Thank you for helping us offer these at-home lessons for transformative learning experiences in nature by making a gift at www.ncascades.org/give.