Fruit and Nut Maple Granola

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We’ve never been able to understand why so many cooks think making granola at home is difficult. It’s as easy as mixing a few ingredients together on a cookie sheet, and baking them; the whole process takes under an hour. The only hard part is choosing the ingredients. Here is our basic recipe, one of the most popular dishes served at the Stonewall Kitchen Café. Think of this a master recipe that you can add or subtract from; see Favorite Variations below for more ideas. Place the granola in a small clear bag, tie with a ribbon, and bring as a hostess gift.

3 cups rolled old-fashioned oats

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

¾ cup unsalted raw sunflower seeds

¾ cup slivered almonds

¼ cup packed light brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

¾ cup maple syrup

1/3 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cup raisins, yellow raisins, or dried cranberries

½ cup dried chopped apricots

Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

On a large cookie sheet or 2 smaller ones, combine the oats, coconut, sunflower seeds, almonds, brown sugar, cinnamon, and ginger. Drizzle the maple syrup, canola oil, and vanilla over the oat and nut mixture and stir well to coat the entire mixture. Add the raisins and apricots and stir well to incorporate.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring the granola about every 10 minutes so it doesn’t clump up and rotating the cookie sheet once or twice so the granola bakes evenly. The granola is ready when it just begins to turn a light golden color.

Remove from the oven and stir well. Let cool, stirring once or twice to avoid clumping. Store the granola in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 6 weeks.

Makes 6 to 8 cups.

Favorite Variations:

  • Substitute dried blueberries, dried cherries, dried cranberries, or dried strawberries for the raisins, or use a combination.

  • Substitute pecans, walnuts, macadamia nuts, pine nuts, or cashews for the almonds, or add a combination of several nuts.

  • Substitute ¼ cup honey for the brown sugar.

  • Add ½ cup wheat germ to the granola.

  • Add ½ cup sesame seeds or flax seeds to the granola.

  • Add ¼ cup bran flakes to the granola.

  • Increase the amount of ginger to 2 teaspoons.

  • Add 1 teaspoon allspice to the mixture.

Austin Powers