Crunchy Granola

As I mentioned last week, my husband and I spent a week at Disney World. The choices of restaurants and the food that they serve are vast and all of them are delicious. So, while we were there, and using a dinning plan, we gained some weight. We decided that when we got back here to California we would start eating a little healthier. We hadn’t been eating that poorly to begin with, but after the holidays and a vacation that include three course meals, we needed to lose a little weight. In an attempt to eat healthy we stopped eating cereal for breakfast and moved to yogurt and homemade granola. This week I have for you our granola recipe.

This recipe is an adaptation of Alton Brown’s granola recipe. You can easily double this recipe.

What You’ll Need…

3 Cups Rolled Oats

1 Cup Slivered Almonds

¾ Shredded Sweet Coconut

¼ Cup + 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

¼ Cup + 2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup

¼ Vegetable Oil

¾ Teaspoon Salt

1 Cup Raisins

1 Cup Dried Cranberries

1 Cup Dried Pineapple

Start out by pre-heating your oven to 250.

Now, in a large bowl combine the oats, almonds, coconut and brown sugar. In a separate bowl combine the maple syrup, oil and salt. Mix both mixtures well.

Next, combine both mixtures; mix well so that all of the ingredients are coated in the oil and syrup. Pour the granola onto two greased sheet pans. 

Bake the granola for an hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes so that it colors evenly. My oven doesn’t heat evenly, so I bake one pan at a time.

Once the granola is baked let it cool for a few minutes and then transfer it to a large bowl. At this point at the raisins, cranberries, and pineapple.  Mix thoroughly so that the fruit is evenly distributed. 

Enjoy by itself or over yogurt.

Store the granola in a Ziploc bag.