All the ingredients needed:
Coconut, Almond and Cranberry Granola:
4 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup wheat germ
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons canola oil *Yuck! I used 6 tablespoons of coconut oil instead*
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar *I used another 1/2 cup of honey instead of the brown sugar*
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup chopped cinnamon roasted almonds *I used plain slivered almonds*
1 cup dried cranberries
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, mix the oats, coconut, wheat germ, salt, and cinnamon together.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla. Whisk well.
Pour half of the honey mixture over the oats mixture, in the large bowl and mix. When it is well mixed, pour the other half of the honey mixture, and mix until all the oats are evenly coated.
Spread the mixture evenly between the two cookie sheets. Put the pans in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. (I had one sheet on the top rack and one on the bottom rack). Take the baking sheets out and stir the granola.
Put the pans back in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes. At this point, check it every couple of minutes until it is done - granola goes from done to burnt in just minutes. I found that the perfect time for this recipe was about 20-24 minutes total. You will know its done when the oats have a nice golden color to them.
Stir in the dried cranberries and almonds after you remove the granola from the oven. Let the granola cool completely on the baking sheets. Once cooled, package it up or store in an air tight container for about a week. One batch of the above recipe filled 1 half gallon jar, and almost filled one quart jar. That jar on the right is from the recipe that shall not be shared:
Granola goes fast in our house, so I find that I have to make a couple batches a week. There are some great recipes out there, and I will share more of my favorites in the weeks to come. Killian's favorite thing to eat for breakfast is cereal and while its great that he gets a big helping of raw milk, processed breakfast cereal is pretty much one of the worst things you can start your day with. Even though we haven't bought anything sugary for years (their only choices have been Honey Bunches with Oats or Multi-Grain Cheerios) all cereals go through a process called extrusion that basically renders them completely void of nutrients, and depending on who you believe the process also makes them toxic to consume. With that in mind, one of the top things on my nutritional to do list is to eliminate breakfast cereals altogether. With an option as delicious as this granola, I don't think that's going to be very tough to do!