Granola with Cinnamon and Nuts

I always stop my husband from buying granola or granola bars and promise him that I will make them at home for him. But never get around doing that and he keeps asking me for them. After procrastinating for as long as I can, I finally made him this Cinnamon-Nut Granola from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain baking cookbook.

This granola is a perfect balance of salt and sweet, crisp and crunch, fruit and nuts. Using butter to make the granola gives it a ton of flavor, especially in combination with cinnamon. But you can easily substitute vegetable oil or coconut oil for the butter. Varying the fruits and nuts in the granola is the fun part, so feel free to use whatever you have in your pantry.

My favorite way to eat any granola is soaking it in some warm almond milk. But if I don't have time to do that, I sprinkle it over Greek yogurt along with some fruit.

Granola with Cinnamon and Nuts

Ingredients:

• 4cups Old fashioned Rolled Oats
• 1cup Whole almonds, coarsely chopped
• 1cup Dry roasted peanuts
• 1cup Flaked Coconut
• 1½tsp Ground Cinnamon
• ½tsp Salt
• 6tbsp Unsalted Butter or Coconut Oil
• ½cup Honey
• ½cup Golden Raisins
• ½cup Dried apricots, coarsely chopped
• ½cup Dried Cherries
• ½cup Dried Cranberries

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, coconut, cinnamon and salt.
3. Melt the butter (or coconut oil) and stir in the honey. Pour the honey-butter mixture over the oats mixture and mix until they are thoroughly moistened.
4. Pour the granola onto 2 parchment lined baking sheets.
5. Bake until the cereal is evenly toasted, about 30~40 minutes. Give the cereal a good stir around halfway through the baking process.
6. Remove the granola from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheets. When it's cooled, stir in the dried fruit. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Also linking this to Valli's 'Cooking from Cookbook Challenge: January -- Week 4'.