Recipe for Homemade Granola

My own recipe for yummy, healthy granola. Packed with nuts, this granola is great for fighting those hunger pains between meals. I eat mine dry so it is not super-sweetened. If you like yours in a bowl of milk, I recommend sprinkling it with additional brown sugar or palm sugar while it is still warm from the oven. I like my granola crunchy with toasted nuts so I do allow mine to brown a little longer in the oven than an hour. Adjust it to your taste preferences.

8 cups old fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups raw almonds 'chunked' *I like the flavor of large bite sized pieces. You get maybe three or four chunks per nut.
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/4 cup flax seed
1 cup sweetened cranberries *Craisins
2 Tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 - 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup dark brown sugar or grated palm sugar
1/8 cup hot water

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together oats, almonds, sunflower seeds and flax seed. Set aside.

Measure out your cranberries and set aside to add later.

In a saucepan over low heat, simmer cinnamon, vegetable oil, honey, brown sugar or palm sugar, and hot water until the sugar begins to dissolve.

Slowly pour sauce over your oat & nut mixture and mix well. Pour mixture into a baking dish and place in your preheated oven. Bake for about 50 minutes stirring mixture every 10-15 minutes. Mixture will begin to turn golden.

Add cranberries and return to the oven for 10 more minutes. *Any longer and they will become very chewy or hard.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Enjoy!