Maple Nut Granola Recipe

My friend, Beka, recently posted about granola. That got me thinking I might want to make some myself. Yummmmmm....I love granola! In my opinion, homemade granola tops store-bought, pretty much always. Especially this granola!

I finalized this recipe about 2 years ago, but just realized I although I had added it to my Recipage, I never did a post about it. Ooops. The inspiration for this recipe came from Good Cheap Eats, but I gave it the ol' maison|raye tweak until it suited our tastebuds.

Things I love about this granola:

• Yummy (duh)
• Portable
• Crunchy
• Uses a natural, "real food" sweetener
• Don't have to stir it while baking! (This is HUGE for me)
• Can sub use any kind of nuts you like or have on hand
• Uses basic ingredients always in my pantry (I buy pretty much all the ingredients in bulk)
• Is allergy-friendly (dairy-free, peanut-free, egg-free, soy-free and gluten-free if you use certified gluten-free ingredients)
• It actually holds together in large-ish pieces, which are easy to grab

Side note, this is an awesome, portable snack to take camping or on vacation (or to keep in a container in your desk at work). And, it makes fab yogurt/fruit/granola parfaits.

I sometimes pour the little crumblies into a bowl, add a small handful of dried or fresh berries and top with milk (previously cow milk or Ashley's Cereal Sauce, but lately I use coconut or almond milk). I wish I had a picture of all that yum-ness in a bowl, but I ate it. Sorry.

You definitely need to try this granola. Hear that?  NEED!!!!

Maple Nut Granola

by Raye

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Keywords: bake stove top breakfast snack oatmeal nuts maple syrup

Ingredients (8 servings)

• 5 c. old fashioned rolled oats (do not use quick oats)
• 1 c. chopped nuts, such as pecans or almonds
• 1 c. shredded, unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 c. maple syrup
• 1/2 c. coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 300* F.
• In a small saucepan over low heat, combine syrup, vanilla, salt, coconut oil and cinnamon and stir until smooth.
• Stir together nuts, coconut and oats in a large mixing bowl. Pour warmed liquid ingredients over the oat mixture. Stir to coat evenly. (It will seem like there's not enough liquid to go around at first. Just keep stirring. It may take about a minute to get the dry ingredients totally coated.)
• Press into a 15x10 jelly roll pan (rimmed baking sheet). Bake for 40-45 minutes without stirring. Remove from oven and gently break up with a spatula.
• Cool completely before serving or storing. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
• Note, may omit nuts during the baking process and simply add pecans or a dried fruit/nut mix or nut/seed mix when serving to accommodate individual tastes within your family.

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