Granola Goodness

While my hubby has been busy giving the blog a pretty face lift, I've been keeping busy making a few healthy treats. One of my goals for the new year was to eat well and I realized very quickly that if I'm going to stand a chance of sticking with it, I need a few delicious snacks to easily grab when I have the munchies. I really love granola, but have yet to find a really tasty one in the grocery stores that doesn't have wheat, added sugar or preservatives. They sell some yummy ones in specialty shops, but they cost a fortune. Even while searching for a recipe to make my own, I found most contained lots of dried fruit (high in sugar) or wheat germ. In the end, I kind of just made up my own recipe and it turned out fabulous, so I thought I'd share!

Homemade Granola

Ingredients:

3 cups traditional oats
1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
2 cups mixed nuts (I just bought a bag of natural nuts and threw the whole thing in)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 heaping tsp. ginger
1-2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup sunflower oil
1 tbsp. vanilla

To make:

Mix all the dry ingredients together, except the dried fruit. In a separate bowl, mix the honey, oil and vanilla together. Drizzle the liquid mixture over the dry ingredients and toss to coat completely. Spread the mixture evenly over two greased cookie sheets or casserole dishes (I greased the pans with sunflower oil, as well). Bake at 250 degrees Fahrenheit until oats are nicely browned and nuts are roasted. It will depend on your oven, but it should take anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes. Stir every 15 minutes. Once ready, remove from oven and let cool on pans. Stir occasionally as it cools, to break up any large chunks. It will get crispy as it cools. Once cool, stir in dried fruit. Store in an airtight container for about 2 weeks.

It's really tasty as a snack on it's own, but I especially love it over fruit salad! I'm also thinking it would also be delicious over baked apples with cinnamon as a special treat. It's so nice too because you can basically use whatever you've got on hand and mix it up a little to keep it from getting boring. I'll definitely be making this again! I'm slightly addicted.

Let me know if you give it a try! :)