Homemade Crunchy Granola

This homemade granola recipe calls for a minimum of sweeteners, thereby making it much healthier than any store-bought variety.  After the granola cools, simply put it in air-tight freezer containers.

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Homemade Crunchy Granola

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Ingredients

• 5 cups Quaker old fashion oats
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut
• 2 cups favorite flake cereal - such as Special K
• 1 cup raw sunflower seeds
• 1 cup slivered almonds
• 1 cup pecans or walnuts chopped
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp allspice
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups dried cherries cranberries or craisins
• 1 cup dried apricots chopped

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 300°.  Position 2 racks in bottom and middle of oven.   
• Using two pans as your mixing bowl (a large cookie sheet with sides and/or a 11 x 13 inch pan), divide the ingredients between the pans up to the cinnamon.  Mix these ingredients with a metal spatula.
• Add to each pan the oil, maple syrup and vanilla and stir. 
• Finally add the fruit and stir one final time. 
• Place the pans/sheets on the oven shelves.  Bake for a total of 35 minutes, stirring each 10 minutes. 
• Remove from oven - stir one final time. 
• Let cool and store in air tight containers.  Freeze up to four months.