Beth's Best Granola

A friend has been requesting my tried and true granola recipe for about three months so I am finally getting around to fulfilling her request.  She has been using my Beth's Burnt Granola recipe with success and she says she has given a lot of it away to other people.  She is a wonderful homemade baked goods gift giver!  I was the recipient of her wonderful homemade biscotti and breads lovingly given as 'Front Door Deliveries' for many months during my recovery process last year.  If my memory serves me correctly I told her after one such delivery that I was pretty sure I loved her biscotti more than the Good Husband!  I need to tackle making biscotti again.  I made it once but it was not as good as hers.  Back to granola...  The burned granola recipe is actually good as long as you check on it while it is baking in the oven!  I was just mad I burned it so have not used it again. Using the following recipe all the time doesn't really get boring because I always change up the kind of nuts and fruit.  The batch shown has the mixed blueberries and cherries.  You can use golden raisins, dried cranberries, dates, or tropical fruits.  I tend to sprinkle in chia seeds and wheat bran because I always have it on hand.  I use almonds, walnuts, pecans and occasionally sunflower seeds.  I often forget the cinnamon but I think the Good Husband likes it better when I remember it.  I usually eat granola for breakfast but I think I might make this sometime with cashews and chocolate chips for a snacking granola.  That one wouldn't even last the whole week.

 

Next granola posting is a little different from the ordinary but I loved it......stay tuned!  "Put the lime in the coconut..."  

 

 

Ingredients

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup slivered almonds
• 1 cup rough chopped walnuts 
• 3/4 cup shredded sweet coconut
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon(optional)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup raisins

Directions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
Combine the oats, nuts, coconut, brown sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, oil, and salt. Combine both mixtures and pour onto 2 parchment covered cookie sheets with rims. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to achieve a nice toasty color.
Remove from oven and transfer back into your large bowl. Add raisins and mix.

Mine never lasts for more than a week but I think it would stay fresh for longer than that.