The Perfect Granola

Hi Everyone,

As you may know I have a granola addiction. I have no control, and I can just eat, eat, eat it until, well I’m sick. I can’t help myself. So today I decided to take one of my favorite, favorite granola recipes and change it up just a little to make it even more better. I have to say it is more clumpy and just perfect. I am quite pleased with the outcome, plus the pictures are a little bit better than before. But I have to admit granola doesn’t photograph well for me, for some reason. You can check out the original post here.

This granola is sweet, crunchy with a hint of vanilla and peanut butter and lots of tropical dried fruit. One of my all time favorite dried fruit is pineapple. Oh man is that good!! I just had to add it to my granola. It makes it just perfect! Plus the naturally sweet coconut. Oh yah! That is what I’m talking about I kind of have a thing for tropical flavors if you couldn’t tell. But by all means add whatever dried fruit you like to the recipe, because no matter what you choose it will be good.

What I changed up in this recipe is the cooking. I normally cook my granola at 300 degrees for 45 minutes, while flipping every 15 minutes. Well now I cook it for 37 minutes, then leave it in the oven with the door ajar no flipping required! Doing this really makes nice big clumps of granola. I just love the clusters! If you’re not a cluster lover you can always break down the granola when it cools.

The Perfect Granola

Nutrition Information

Serves: 20½ cup servings

Serving size: ½ cup

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 44 mins

Total time: 54 mins

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Crunchy, sweet gluten free granola with a hint of vanilla and peanut butter that is chock full of tropical dried fruit.

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:
7½ cups rolled oats (I used Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Rolled Oats) or old fashion oatmeal
½ cup shredded coconut
1 tbsp. chia seeds
1 tbsp. ground flax
½ cup slivered almonds
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
Wet Ingredients:
4 tbsp brown rice syrup
1 tbsp agave nectar or Maple Syrup
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp applesauce, unsweetened
3 tbsp peanut butter
¼ cup un-packed brown sugar
Add Ins:
¼ cup dried coconut (thick cut)
½ cup tropical dried fruits (mix papaya, mango, pineapple)
½ cup dried pineapple (diced up)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300F
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set a side.
In a very large mixing bowl, Mix together the dry ingredients, set a side.
In a medium size saucepan over medium heat, add the wet ingredients. Stir well. Bring to a boil and then simmer on low for 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the wet mixture (while still warm!) over the top of the dry mixture and stir well. It will be very thick and hard to stir, but keep at it until everything is thoroughly combined.
Spread granola onto prepared baking sheet and bake in the oven for 30-37 minutes, until lightly golden. Turn the oven off and ope the door to the oven. Let the granola cool in the oven for about 30 minutes. (I ran errands and just left it in the oven for a few hours.)
When granola is done cooling, break it into chunks and add the dried coconut, dried tropical fruit and dried pineapple.
Store in an airtight container. I used Tupperware.

Notes

Calories per ½ cup: 165, Fat: 4.3, Sodium: 16.9, Potassium: 52, Carbs: 28, Fiber: 4, Sugar: 9, Protein: 4.6

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