Homemade Granola

I have long read about how easy and economical it is to make granola at home, but I always just figured it was more difficult than I was told. So, this past week, Luke was trolling around the web and found a granola recipe for me. I looked at it and some others, but found none of them to be exactly what I wanted. It was up to me to create something I would want in a healthy, cereal that uses no high fructose corn syrup. I had some blanched almonds kicking around and a bit of sweetened coconut. A good granola also has to have the proper amount of sweetness, oats and dried fruit, so I replenished my supply of rolled oats and picked up a couple of pouches of dried cherries, cranberries and blueberries, figuring those would make a nice change from the old school raisins.

It turned out quite tasty and the making of it went incredibly quickly. I even had a bowl for breakfast yesterday!

Homemade Granola
(Makes 1 gallon zipper lock bag)

4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
2 cups chopped nuts
2 cups sweetened coconut
1 1/2 cups dried fruit, chopped
1/2 cup canola oil
1/3 cup honey
2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350* and combine all ingredients in a bowl, stirring to coat everything evenly with liquids. Pour onto a baking sheet and bake 20-25 mins., stirring occasionally with a spatula, until everything is a light golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely, stirring occasionally to prevent too much sticking and store in an airtight container.

(6.25.09) I made this a second time and made a couple of tweaks. I upped the sweetness a bit by adding 1/3 cup brown sugar and a little over 1 tsp. of vanilla. Also, instead of allowing the fruit to bake with everything else, I tossed it on when I pulled it out of the oven. Dried fruit is already a bit chewy and baking it makes it a lot harder to chew, so best not to expose it to extra heat. I also lined the baking sheet with parchment to ease cleaning. The first time was tasty, the second a taste sensation!