Holy Granola Batman!

I just made granola for the first time... but it won't be my last, this granola is AWESOME! Seriously, it's cooling on the counter and I just ate a few spoonfuls all by itself. Yum.

I did a little search for "granola" and came up with more than a few options, but settled on this one here. I did make a few changes, and I just realized that I baked it at 350 instead of 325 (I guess I was distracted, but it turned out fine). I bought a bag of mixed dried fruit - cranberries, cherries, and blueberries- and used 2/3 cup of that instead of the fruit listed in the original recipe. You can make it with whatever combo of fruit and nuts as you want. Be creative!

Easy Homemade Granola
adapted from "Baked: New Frontiers in Baking" by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup whole almonds {Note: I used slivered almonds, and they worked fine.}
1/3 cup whole hazelnuts {I left these out completely and just adjusted the baking time a little.}
1/3 cup golden raisins {As I said, I used mixed fruit instead of the raisins and cherries.}
1/3 cup dried cherries

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, toss the oats with the cinnamon and salt.
In a medium bowl, stir together the oil, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla. Whisk until completely combined. Pour the honey mixture over the oats mixture and use your hands to combine them: Gather up some of the mixture in each hand and make a fist. Repeat until all of the oats are coated with the honey mixture.

Pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Spread it out evenly, but leave a few clumps here and there for texture.

Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and use a metal spatula to lift and flip the granola. Sprinkle the almonds over the granola and return the baking sheet to the oven.


Bake for 5 minutes, then remove from the oven and use a metal spatula to lift and flip the granola. {This is where I took the granola out to cool.} Sprinkle the hazelnuts over the granola and return the baking sheet to the oven.

Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven. Let cool completely. Sprinkle the raisins and cherries over the granola and use your hands to transfer it to an airtight container. Granola will keep for one week.

Enjoy!