Homemade Granola

Do you ever have a 'homemade' feeling sort of day? I think I do every day...but today in particular. I get strong nesting urges all the time where you'd think I was planning for some sort of lock-in. Who knows...maybe I have spidey-earth-senses and my instincts are telling me a natural disaster is on its way. Well whatever the reason, after I totally cleaned/disinfected the house today, I went to town on some homemade cooking. First I did apple cobbler pancakes. Then I put a homemade rotisserie chicken noodle soup in the crock pot. And then Sophie wanted a snack, so I made this delicious homemade granola. I'm in love. And you know what? I'm never buying in-store granola ever again. This was so much cheaper and I already had half the ingredients in our house! And I know what's going in the granola! No crap here. Just good old wholesome goodness. Sophia and I enjoyed berry-yogurt parfaits for snack time today with our deliciously fresh granola.


Ingredients

4 cups large-flake (old fashioned) oats
1 cup chopped nuts (I used hazelnuts, but almonds would probably be good, and so would pecans!)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, raw unsalted
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup vegetable, canola or coconut oil
1/2 cup real maple syrup (you could substitute honey)
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup raisins
Instructions

Preheat oven to 300 ° F.
Combine the oats, nuts, sunflower seeds, brown sugar and salt in a large bowl. Stir well to combine, breaking up any lumps of brown sugar.
In a glass measuring cup, combine the oil and the maple syrup. Microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute. Remove. Add vanilla and stir well.
Pour oil/maple syrup mixture over the oats mixture. Using two spoons, stir and toss the mixture until all of the oats are coated with the syrup.
Place granola directly onto a baking sheet and place in the oven. Set the timer for 10 minutes. At the end of 10 miinutes, remove the granola and stir, moving the granola around the outside edges into the middle and the middle out towards the edges. Set the timer for another 10 minutes. After the second 10 minutes, sprinkle with the coconut and then stir well again. Return to oven and set the timer for one last 10 minute bake. (30 minutes total, stirred twice at 10 minutes and 20 minutes). At the end of the last 10 minutes (30 minutes in the oven), remove the granola from the oven. Stir just a bit then sprinkle with the cranberries and raisins and leave undisturbed until it is completely cooled. Once cooled, stir the granola. Store at room temperature in an air-tight container. Will keep for several weeks (although it may not last that long).
Prep time: 5 min | Cook time: 30 min | Total time: 35 min