My brother-in-law Len is visiting from Perth, Australia. So to make him feel at home I am baking him a batch of granola made with pure Ontario maple syrup. Welcome to Canada!
This is my basic recipe for a healthful granola. You need just a bit of maple syrup for sweetness, a variety of nuts, seeds and dried fruit to pull it all together. This is easy to make with kids, you bake the base and they add all the fun stuff to make it their own.
My secret to a very crunchy granola is to use a combination of flakes. Some of my favourite combinations are equale parts of oat flakes, spelt flakes, rye flakes and quinoa flakes.
Ingredients:
4 cups raw oat flakes (or combination of flakes)
⅓ cup maple syrup (you can use honey in place of maple syrup)
4 tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup apricots
1/2 cup dried cherries
¾ cup unsweetened dried flaked coconut
⅓ cup chopped or sliced almonds
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon flax or chia seeds
2 cups assorted dried fruit, like apricots, raisins, cranberries, cherries, dates, etc.
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Place the oats in a large mixing bowl.
Mix the oats with maple syrup and the melted coconut oil. Add the salt, vanilla and cinnamon and stir until well combined.
Spread the granola out on a large baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly toasted, stirring every few minutes to prevent burning.
Let the granola cool completely.
Add the coconut flakes, nuts and seeds, flax or chia seeds and dried fruits.
Stir to combine.
Store in a glass jar.