Granola with Nuts and Dried Fruit
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Ingredients
  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • slightly less than ¼ cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • 2½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
  • ½ cup raw almonds, chopped coarse
  • ½ cup macadamia nuts, chopped coarse
  • ½ cup raisins
  • ½ cup dried cranberries
Instructions
  1. Put an oven rack to an upper-middle level. Heat oven to 325/160°.
  2. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Once those are mixed, then whisk in oil.
  4. Fold in oats and nuts until thoroughly coated. If the oats and nuts don't seem coated enough, splash in a little more maple syrup.
  5. Spoon oat mixture onto prepared baking sheet. Use a spatula or spoon to spread the mix across sheet into thin, even layer. Use your spoon or spatula to press the oats down until they are compact.
  6. Bake until lightly browned, about 35-40 minutes. Rotate pan halfway through. I don't stir it during the baking process because then it allows for more clusters. You can stir it if you want, but then your granola may be darker and less clumpy.
  7. Remove granola from oven and cool for about 1 hour.
  8. Break the granola into pieces of various sizes. Stir in the dried fruits. You stir in the fruits now because if you bake them the fruit will get really dry and unpleasant.
Recipe by Cooking is Messy at https://www.cookingismessy.com/2014/11/17/granola-nuts-dried-fruit/