Home made granola is very easy to make and a great thing to have hanging around the kitchen during the holidays. Instead of reaching for the umpteenth cookie, you can dip into a bowl of whole oats, dried fruit, and nutritious nuts and seeds while still getting your sweet-salty fix. I hadn’t made homemade granola for years until I experimented with this recipe. But once we started having it on hand and loving it, I realized it should be a staple that could go in the good-for-you column for our daily diets. It’s always nice to have that to point to when you finish off the last of the extra large bag of sour cream and cheddar potato chips.
You can use almost any of the Runamok infused maple syrups or our best of the season Sugarmaker’s Cut. The Cinnamon+Vanilla Infused will give it a warm and spicy flavor while the Makrut Lime-Leaf Infused will impart a hint of the exotic. You can also vary the amount, depending upon how sweet you like your granola. Just be sure to keep an eye on the cooking time as it can go from toasty to burnt very quickly. The first batch I made was a bit overcooked and my daughter, who tends to start a lot of her sentences with, “Mom, I don’t want to hurt your feelings but…” gave her usual disclaimer and said it tasted burnt. Then she ate the whole bowl.
Maple Granola
- 4 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup sliced almonds
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds
- ½ cup shredded coconut
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup Sugarmaker’s Cut, Cinnamon+Vanilla Infused, Wildflower Honey Infused, or Makrut Lime-Leaf Infused maple syrup
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup chopped dried apricots
- ½ cup raisins
Preheat oven to 325 °F. In a large bowl combine the oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, coconut, vegetable oil, salt and maple syrup. Toss well so that all of the dried ingredients are coated. Spread the mixture out on a large, rimmed sheet pan and bake in the oven until lightly toasted – about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the pan and put into a bowl to cool then add the apricots and raisins.
Serve over yogurt or ice cream or just place in a bowl for noshing.
