Crunchy Granola

I spent the first few years of married life searching for the perfect granola recipe. This is my go-to formula, using whatever nuts and dried fruit we have on hand (usually cranberries instead of cherries, but occasionally dried blueberries, om nom nom), and since we've moved south I sometimes swap in sorghum for the honey. It meets with the approval of my mother- and sisters-in-law, and they are from the hippie capital of America so they know granola.

Even though I always return to this recipe, I can't resist trying new variations, so when this month's Martha contained a recipe for Walnut Granola, the kids and I baked up a batch.

Not bad, but no match for my standby. However it did make a TON, and since Bob has been patiently dropping hints for granola bars for a few months now, we made two batches: Hillbilly Housewife's peanut butter granola bars (although I may have to give this one a try to use up the marshmallows lurking in the pantry from Thanksgiving)

and another recipe the origins of which have faded into the mist.

Preheat oven to 350. Combine:

2 T. milk
2 eggs
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 c. cinnamon

and beat until well blended. Stir in ~ 3 cups granola. Press into greased or parchment-lined 8X8 pan - the better you pack it in there, the better the bars will hold together. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool completely before cutting.

I got way too many dried apples in my last Azure Standard order, so we added about 1/2 cup chopped up, which was tasty.