Granola Success!

My friend, Mrs. Y, contacted me with her granola recipe after reading my cry for help! She said she uses half butter, half coconut oil, and cooks at a low temperature (300ish), stirring every ten minutes.

I did this and it worked!! I melted the butter, oil, and a little honey in the microwave first. Then I added rolled oats and cooked it like she told me to. It only took about 20-25 minutes, even at 300 degrees, and I'm still going to play around a little with the ratio of oil to honey to oats.

The coconut oil is not local, of course, but neither were the oils I was using before. The butter is from a local dairy, where we also get our milk and yogurt (which Mrs. Y will tell me I can make myself, but I just haven't got a starter batch yet...someday soon!).

Coconut oil is some pretty amazing stuff! It contributed its own subtle coconut flavor to the granola without having to add chewy shredded coconut, and it can even be used as a moisturizer or hair conditioner (and, according to the internet, a handy lubricant in other areas as well--but maybe ask your doctor first). However, I couldn't find it in our grocery store anywhere but the organic section, and the 14 oz. jar of organic coconut oil was $8.99!! I'm positive Mrs. Y would not, could not, feed her family (of 12!) this stuff at that cost! Where can I find it cheaper??