Homemade Granola

I have been wanting to make my own granola for years, and now that I have done it, I have no idea why I ever purchased granola from the grocery store!  To be honest, my first batch was an epic fail due to the fact that I left it in the oven too long, but the second batch was absolutely delicious.  I combined oats, nuts, coconut and dried fruit to make a delicious granola that can be served by itself, with yogurt and fruit, over ice cream, with milk or whatever else your heart desires.

Fruit and Nut Granola (printable recipe)

Ingredients:

2 c rolled oats

1 c almonds, sliced

1 c coconut, shredded

1/2 c walnuts, chopped

1/4 c wheat germ

1/4 c brown sugar

2 Tbsp. flax seeds

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c dried apricots, chopped

1 c dried cranberries

1/2 c dried figs, chopped

1/3 c honey

1/3 c vegetable oil

1 tsp. vanilla

Method:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Combine the oats, almonds, coconut, walnuts, wheat germ, brown sugar, flax seeds, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.  Whisk the oil, honey and vanilla together in a small bowl.  Pour the liquids over the oat mixture and stir until all ingredients are evenly coated.  Transfer to a large sheet pan.  Bake, stirring occasionally, until mixture is golden brown.  This will take 20-30 minutes.  Watch closely as mixture can go from brown to burned relatively quickly (as learned in my earlier trial).

Remove the granola from the oven and add the apricots, cranberries and figs.  Let the granola cool on the sheet pan, stirring occasionally to break it up.  If you like your granola a little chewy, store in an airtight container as soon as it has cooled.  If you're a fan of crunchy granola, you might need to let it sit on the pan and dry out overnight.

Note:  If you don't like or are allergic to any of the ingredients in the recipe, just omit them.  If you omit the nuts from the recipe, add in more oats or reduce the amount of liquids (oil & honey) you use.