seven year granola

i've been making our own granola for a while now, a very simple recipe with no oil and just sweetened with honey. though Rob enjoyed it, he requested if i could make it with clusters. well, i figured that to get clusters it's gonna have more sugar and oil to make it stick, right? my cluster curiosity was picqued however, and after a google search i stumbled upon "seven year granola" by The Traveler's Lunchbox. it's accompanied by an hilarious story about the "Lip Lady's secret granola" you must read! when i saw cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg, i hit "bookmark". it's the best granola i have made so far... and Rob agrees! recipe here

**the recipe was way to sweet for me (i want granola, not cookies-lol) so i made some adjustments:

• increase oats to 3 cups
• use half the amount of butter
• reduce brown sugar to 3/4 cup instead of 1 cup (could even go to half cup)
• add about 1/4 cup of ground flax meal
• i went with chopped dates in todays batch

what could be better than the aroma of freshly baked granola on a chilly autumn morning? try not to eat handfuls of it while it cools :)